by When small, dense stars called white dwarfs explode, they produce bright, short-lived flares called Type Ia supernovae. These supernovae are informative cosmological markers for astronomers—for example, they were used to prove that the universe is accelerating in its expansion.
White dwarfs are not all the same, ranging from half of the mass of our sun to almost 50 percent more massive than our sun. Some explode in Type Ia supernovae; others simply die quietly.
Now, by studying the "fossils" of long-exploded white dwarfs, Caltech astronomers have found that early on in the universe, white dwarfs often exploded at lower masses than they do today. This discovery indicates that a white dwarf could explode from a variety of causes, and does not necessarily have to reach a critical mass before exploding.
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White dwarfs are not all the same, ranging from half of the mass of our sun to almost 50 percent more massive than our sun. Some explode in Type Ia supernovae; others simply die quietly.
Now, by studying the "fossils" of long-exploded white dwarfs, Caltech astronomers have found that early on in the universe, white dwarfs often exploded at lower masses than they do today. This discovery indicates that a white dwarf could explode from a variety of causes, and does not necessarily have to reach a critical mass before exploding.
Continued...
Source
