Astronomers have used a new type of extreme supernova in which a massive star was stripped right "down to the bone" to better understand the process of stellar life and death.
When other massive stars die in supernova explosions, astronomers detect strong signals of light elements like hydrogen and helium that existed at the surface of the star. However, in this supernova, designated SN2021yfj and located 2.2 billion light-years from Earth, this team found a different chemical signature. This contained traces of heavier elements like silicon, sulfur, and argon that originate from deeper within the progenitor star.
