Exploding white dwarf, 3D simulation. Supercomputer model of a white dwarf star exploding seconds after ignition. The star surface, coloured green

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Exploding white dwarf, 3D simulation. Supercomputer model of a white dwarf star exploding seconds after ignition. The star surface, coloured green, measures 3,800 kilometres in diameter. Other colours represent temperature (blue and red are cooler, orange and yellow are hotter). Ignition produces a burning bubble of hot ash that rises rapidly towards the surface. In later sequences, the bubble breaks through the surface of the star and expands as it emerges. It quickly cools and collides at a point opposite to where the bubble first emerged. A white dwarf is a very dense star, roughly the size of the Earth, but with a mass comparable to the Sun. When the white dwarf runs out of fuel it can explode as a Type Ia supernova.

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Size: 4835px × 3626px
Photo credit: © THE FLASH CENTER/UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 1a, astronomical, astronomy, astrophysical, astrophysics, dwarf, ia, simulation, space, star, supercomputer, supernova, type, white