The origin of Galactic cosmic rays
N. Prantzos investigates whether the bulk of Galactic cosmic rays can be accounted for by supernovae remnants
A Tale Of Two Stars: Early Results From The Type Ia Supernova SN2011fe (Part I)
Those watching the sky in August may have heard the news that a new star had appeared: the type Ia supernova PTF11kly (later rechristened SN2011fe) had touched off in M101, the Pinwheel Galaxy, a bare 6.4 Mpc away; close enough that for a brief period the supernova was visible to anyone with a good pair of binoculars. As the closest recent type Ia observed, astronomers were able to use it to place the first direct observational constraints on the progenitor of a type Ia supernova.
How Type II Supernovae Kick Neutron Stars
Nordhaus et al perform simulations to show that normal type II supernovae can produce pulsar kicks which match the observed velocities of neutron stars.
Toothpaste Comes From Neutrinos: The Origin of Stuff
You’ve probably heard the old quote from Cosmos that “we are all made of stardust.” But that’s not the whole story. How that dust gets made is an intricate tale that spans a wide range of stellar processes and masses. This is the field of nucleosynthesis, the making of the chemical elements, and it is what allows us to make the simple statement: toothpaste comes from neutrinos.
Making Yellow Supergiants Explode
Could higher than expected mass-loss rates for evolved massive stars lead to progenitors for peculiar Supernovae?
Identifying Gamma-Ray Burst Progenitors
Using a clever technique, the authors identify a sub-population of rotating Wolf-Rayet stars.