© : Science Photo Library - MEHAU KULYK via Getty Images)A bright supernova flares across the sky in this illustration. In 2006, researchers detected one of the brightest supernova explosions ever — and they may finally be able to explain it.
In September 2006, an exploding star 50 billion times brighter than Earth's sun blazed to life 240 million light-years away in the Perseus constellation. For 70 days, the blast grew brighter and brighter, outshining its home galaxy by tenfold and measuring hundreds of times more powerful than a typical supernova. At the time, this superbright supernova (also known as a "hypernova") was the brightest stellar explosion ever detected.
What was so special about this record-setting blast (officially labeled SN 2006gy)? Nobody knew. But now, more than a decade later, scientists may finally have a clue. In a new study published today (Jan. 23) in the journal Science, astronomers re-analyzed the mysterious emission lines radiating from the explosion about a year after it peaked.
The team discovered large amounts of iron in the emissions, which they say could only be the result of the supernova interacting with some preexisting layer of stellar material ejected hundreds of years earlier.
Comment: As one comment under the article wondered, perhaps mulching with oak leaves could have a similar effect? What this study reflects is that few plants thrive in monocultures or the sterile and restrictive environments most frequently used throughout agricultural production these days, and, were we to understand the synergies in nature, farmers could significantly increase production while reducing the need for chemicals.
In our time where plant diseases are rampant, productivity is struggling, and the food supply is becoming increasingly toxic because of ill informed farming methods, learning how to work with nature has never been so critical for our own survival: