This supernova was supposed to die — until it got brighter
Talk about going out with a bang - and then another bang. Astronomers at Las Cumbres Observatory have discovered a supernova that has been shining for years instead of mere months, surviving far beyond its expected lifespan.
The strange and still-going stellar explosion, described in the journal Nature, defies scientists' understanding of dying stars and may force them to rethink their ideas of how stars evolve.
"The supernova offers astronomers their greatest thrill: something they do not understand," Stan Woosley of the University of California, Santa Cruz, who was not involved in the study, wrote in a commentary.
The supernova known as iPTF14hls didn't seem like anything out of the ordinary when
