Supernovae were always thought to occur in two main
varieties. But a team of astronomers including Carnegie’s Wendy Freedman, Mark
Phillips and Eric Persson is reporting the discovery of a new type of supernova
called Type Iax. This research has been accepted for publication in The
Astrophysical Journal and is available online.
Previously, supernovae were divided into either
core-collapse or Type Ia categories. Core-collapse supernovae are the explosion
of a star about 10 to 100 times as massive as our sun. Type Ia supernovae are
the complete disruption of a tiny white dwarf.