HIGHLIGHTS

Earth was 120 million light-years away from the star.

The incident was discovered in the NGC 5731 galaxy by astronomers.

This is the first time astronomers have witnessed a star burst live.

WHY IN NEWS

We've all heard and read about massive stars exploding in outer space. Have you ever thought what a sight it would be? What might a star look like as it approaches the conclusion of its journey from Earth? It's possible that we'll get an answer soon. Researchers were able to watch the death by explosion of a huge red star in real time using ground-based telescopes, which was a first for astronomy. They witnessed the star in the NGC 5731 galaxy, which is 120 million light-years from Earth, self-destruct in a spectacular explosion and collapse in a type-2 supernova.

The star was 10 times more massive than the Sun when it burst, according to experts. After burning up the hydrogen, helium, and other components in its core, it exploded. Astronomers formerly assumed that red supergiant stars were relatively tranquil before bursting into a supernova. The finding, which was published in the Astrophysical Journal on January 6, is a watershed moment in the study of stars in their dying throes – the moments before they explode in catastrophic eruptions. The study's chief author, Wynn Jacobson-Galan, stated in a release, 'This is a breakthrough in our knowledge of what huge stars do moments before they die.' 'We saw a red supergiant star burst for the first time.'

Astronomers initially saw the star's extraordinary activity 130 days before it detonated. The brilliant radiation was spotted in the summer of 2020 by the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy Pan-STARRS telescope. The researchers saw a supernova at the same location later that year. When the star erupted, material was found surrounding it, according to their observations. Astronomers want to use the findings to scan the cosmos for other stars emitting radiation and determine if they herald a star's impending demise. The properties of stars are inextricably linked to the properties of planetary systems. As a result, astronomy is centred on the study of the birth, life, and death of stars.