Them stargazers have been a-gapin’ and a-gawpin’ at a champagne supernova called SN2006g.
A long, long time ago in galaxy far, far away (NGC 1260 in the constellation of Perseus) this mutha blew up big time: the blast was huge, offerin up 100 times more a-rumblin and a-tremblin than anything them astrogawpers have seen before.
But how to explain it? Here’s what happens in the conventional model of supernovas : the star runs outta fuel and collapses in on itself with such force that atomic nuclei and electrons fuse forming all kindsa exotic bits ‘n’ pieces but primarily neutrons.
This fusion process releases energy that blasts away the outer layers of the star creatin an explosion.
But this theory don’t produce enough juice to explain a supernova as big as SN2006g.
What could produce more NRG? Denis “Supermarket” Leahy and his buddy Rachid at the University of Calgary have dreamed up a wild n’ wacky alternative. They say that if the star collapses even further, so that atomic nuclei fuse to form quarks, this would release even more energy, in fact justa nuff to explain SN2006g.
Neat eh? (Actually this ah-dear ain’t entirely their own since Ed “Dial M for…” Witten and others have all skinny dipped in the same pool).
If Supermarket Leahy has banged the metaphorical nail on the head, SN2006g is the first quarknova.
For an astrogeek, there ain’t nothin better than a-ferretin out something new up there. A real quarknova should get more than a few people a-hummin and a-whistlin.
Ref: arxiv.org/abs/0708.1787 : Supernova SN2006gy as a First Ever Quark Nova?