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Health & Science4h 24m ago

Astronomers found a population of supernova remnants in the nearby galaxy M83 showing dramatic changes in their brightness, contrary to expectations.

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Pasadena, California, M83 galaxy

Who
astronomers, Andrea Prestwich, Michael McCollough, Roy Kilgard, Zoe Hoiland, NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory
What
Astronomers found a population of supernova remnants in the nearby galaxy M83 showing dramatic changes in their brightness, contrary to expectations.
When
Mon, 15 Jun 2026 21:20:07 GMT · 4h 24m ago
Where
Pasadena, California, M83 galaxy ·
Why
The unexpected variability in brightness suggests either a stellar survivor star orbiting a black hole or neutron star and pulling in material, or the black hole/neutron star recapturing material blasted during the original explosion.
The Frontline Impact

How this affects you

This discovery challenges previous assumptions about supernova remnant behavior and points to a new understanding of stellar evolution and interactions, particularly in galaxies with high star formation rates. It potentially uncovers a significant population of high-mass X-ray binaries connected to supernova remnants, changing our view of their prevalence.

Story chain

9 events in this thread
  1. Health & Science4h 24m ago
    Astronomers found that roughly half of the 22 X-ray sources associated with supernova remnants in M83 showed unexpected changes in X-ray brightness over 14 years of observations.
    Open article
  2. Health & Science4h 24m ago
    Astronomers using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory found supernova remnants in galaxy Messier 83 (M83) showing unexpected dramatic changes in brightness over 14 years.
    Open article
  3. Health & Science4h 24m ago
    Astronomers found a population of supernova remnants in the M83 galaxy showing dramatic changes in their brightness over 14 years.
    Open article
  4. Health & Science4h 24m ago
    Astronomers using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory found that half of the 22 supernova remnants observed in galaxy M83 showed unexpected changes in their X-ray brightness over 14 years.
    Open article
  5. Health & Science4h 24m ago
    Astronomers found a population of supernova remnants in the nearby galaxy Messier 83 (M83) showing dramatic changes in their brightness, a discovery presented at the American Astronomical Society meeting and published in The Astrophysical Journal.
    Open article
  6. Health & Science4h 24m ago
    Astronomers detected dramatic, unexpected changes in the X-ray brightness of supernova remnants in the Messier 83 (M83) galaxy.
    Open article
  7. Currently Reading4h 24m ago
    Astronomers found a population of supernova remnants in the nearby galaxy M83 showing dramatic changes in their brightness, contrary to expectations.
  8. Health & Science4h 24m ago
    Astronomers using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory found a population of supernova remnants in the nearby galaxy Messier 83 (M83) showing dramatic changes in their brightness over 14 years.
    Open article
  9. Health & Science4h 24m ago
    Astronomers using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory found that roughly half of 22 supernova remnants in M83 showed unexpected changes in X-ray brightness over 14 years.
    Open article

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