This stone that was found in Egypt will be the first evidence on Earth of a supernova

A stone found in Egypt more than 25 years ago has finally revealed its secrets. It will come from a supernova.

It weighs only 30 grams, but it contains the remnants of a supernova star explosion: this stone is the first evidence on Earth for this physical phenomenon !

Hypatia, a piece of a starburst

This small stone that was found in Egypt in 1996 looks like a small pebble only, but it is more than precious: if the results of the study were not published until more than 25 years after its discovery, is that the researchers proceeded with the deletion to check its value and their conclusions.

It was christened Hypatia, and was considered a simple piece of a comet before researchers considered analyzing it. Today, it almost certainly comes from a supernova !

a A supernova is a double star death : When the stars are at the end of their lives, especially a class called “white dwarfs”, they are in a binary system, which means they come in pairs. Then one swallows the other, and little by little the explosion occurs. It’s called a “thermonuclear supernova” and this type of explosion is where Hypatia comes from.

A phenomenon that occurs twice in a century

To reach this conclusion, the researchers He studied the composition of the piece found in Egypt : They thought first of a meteorite, then a meteorite, but the isotopes in the stone didn’t match that kind of result.

“We found a consistent pattern of oligopolymers–Elements that are completely unlike anything in the solar system, primitive or advanced. Asteroid belt objects and meteorites also do not fit this. Then we looked outside the solar system.”Jan D. Kramers, one of the study authors and a researcher at the University of Johannesburg details.

By omission, they quickly realized that Hypatia could only come from a supernova. If so, this would be the first evidence on Earth of such a stellar explosion.

In their latest study, researchers believe that Hypatia formed from a supernova And mixed with dust among the stars before reaching our solar system.

Anyway, it’s a big discovery, since a supernova explosion It only happens twice a century in the Milky Way…