This archive report was first published on 8 August 2020.
On August 23, 1987, a massive star in the Large Magellanic Cloud exploded in a spectacular supernova, producing a burst of energy that was visible from Earth.
According to astronomers, the star, known as Sanduleak -69° 202, was about 19 times as massive as the sun and is believed to have produced a neutron star.
Dr. Burrows, an expert in the field, noted that the star's thermonuclear immolation developed onionskin layers of helium, oxygen, carbon, and other newly minted elements, with a growing core of iron at the center.
When the star reached the Chandrasekhar limit, it imploded and then rebounded, leaving behind a hot, dense neutron star.
As the star collapsed, a shock wave rippled out through the onion layers, accompanied by copious quantities of neutrinos, which are particles created from the energy of the collapse.
Neutrinos are famous for their ability to pass through solid lead, but even they have trouble escaping the core of a dense proto-neutron star.
Dr. Burrows said that the energy supplied by neutrinos provides the oomph to blow the star apart, and if they cannot emerge fast enough, the supernova is likely to fizzle and the newly-birthed neutron star will collapse into a black hole.
