Timeline of white dwarfs, neutron stars, and supernovae
Encyclopedia
Timeline
of white dwarf
s, neutron star
s, and supernova
e
Note that this list is mainly about the development of knowledge, but also about some supernovae taking place. For a separate list of the latter, see the article List of supernovae. All dates refer to when the supernova was observed on Earth or would have been observed on Earth had powerful enough telescopes existed at the time.
Timeline
A timeline is a way of displaying a list of events in chronological order, sometimes described as a project artifact . It is typically a graphic design showing a long bar labeled with dates alongside itself and events labeled on points where they would have happened.-Uses of timelines:Timelines...
of white dwarf
White dwarf
A white dwarf, also called a degenerate dwarf, is a small star composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. They are very dense; a white dwarf's mass is comparable to that of the Sun and its volume is comparable to that of the Earth. Its faint luminosity comes from the emission of stored...
s, neutron star
Neutron star
A neutron star is a type of stellar remnant that can result from the gravitational collapse of a massive star during a Type II, Type Ib or Type Ic supernova event. Such stars are composed almost entirely of neutrons, which are subatomic particles without electrical charge and with a slightly larger...
s, and supernova
Supernova
A supernova is a stellar explosion that is more energetic than a nova. It is pronounced with the plural supernovae or supernovas. Supernovae are extremely luminous and cause a burst of radiation that often briefly outshines an entire galaxy, before fading from view over several weeks or months...
e
Note that this list is mainly about the development of knowledge, but also about some supernovae taking place. For a separate list of the latter, see the article List of supernovae. All dates refer to when the supernova was observed on Earth or would have been observed on Earth had powerful enough telescopes existed at the time.
- 185 – Chinese astronomersChinese astronomyAstronomy in China has a very long history, with historians considering that "they [the Chinese] were the most persistent and accurate observers of celestial phenomena anywhere in the world before the Arabs."...
become the first to record observations of a supernovaSupernovaA supernova is a stellar explosion that is more energetic than a nova. It is pronounced with the plural supernovae or supernovas. Supernovae are extremely luminous and cause a burst of radiation that often briefly outshines an entire galaxy, before fading from view over several weeks or months...
, the SN 185SN 185SN 185 was a supernova which appeared in the year 185 AD, near the direction of Alpha Centauri, between the constellations Circinus and Centaurus, centered at RA Dec , in Circinus. This "guest star" was observed by Chinese astronomers in the Book of Later Han, and may have been recorded in Roman...
, - 1006 – Ali ibn RidwanAli ibn RidwanAbu'l Hasan Ali ibn Ridwan Al-Misri was an Egyptian Muslim physician, astrologer and astronomer, born in Giza.He was a commentator on ancient Greek medicine, and in particular on Galen; his commentary on Galen's Ars Parva was translated by Gerardo Cremonese...
and Chinese astronomers observe the brightest (magnitudeApparent magnitudeThe apparent magnitude of a celestial body is a measure of its brightness as seen by an observer on Earth, adjusted to the value it would have in the absence of the atmosphere...
−7.5) recorded supernova, SN 1006SN 1006SN 1006 was a supernova, widely seen on Earth beginning in the year 1006 AD; Earth was about 7,200 light-years away from the supernova. It was the brightest apparent magnitude stellar event in recorded history reaching an estimated -7.5 visual magnitude...
, which is observed in the constellation of LupusLupus (constellation)Lupus is a constellation in the southern sky. Its name is Latin for wolf. Lupus was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations...
, - 1054 – Chinese, American Indian and Arab astronomersIslamic astronomyIslamic astronomy or Arabic astronomy comprises the astronomical developments made in the Islamic world, particularly during the Islamic Golden Age , and mostly written in the Arabic language. These developments mostly took place in the Middle East, Central Asia, Al-Andalus, and North Africa, and...
observe the SN 1054SN 1054SN 1054 is a supernova that was first observed as a new "star" in the sky on July 4, 1054 AD, hence its name, and that lasted for a period of around two years. The event was recorded in multiple Chinese and Japanese documents and in one document from the Arab world...
, the Crab NebulaCrab NebulaThe Crab Nebula is a supernova remnant and pulsar wind nebula in the constellation of Taurus...
supernova explosion, - 1181 – Chinese astronomers observe the SN 1181SN 1181First observed between August 4 and August 6, 1181, Chinese and Japanese astronomers recorded the supernova now known as SN 1181 in eight separate texts....
supernova, - 1572 – Tycho BraheTycho BraheTycho Brahe , born Tyge Ottesen Brahe, was a Danish nobleman known for his accurate and comprehensive astronomical and planetary observations...
discovers a supernova (SN 1572SN 1572SN 1572 , "B Cassiopeiae" , or 3C 10 was a supernova of Type Ia in the constellation Cassiopeia, one of about eight supernovae visible to the naked eye in historical records...
) in the constellation CassiopeiaCassiopeia (constellation)Cassiopeia is a constellation in the northern sky, named after the vain queen Cassiopeia in Greek mythology, who boasted about her unrivalled beauty. Cassiopea was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century Greek astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations today...
, - 1604 – Johannes KeplerJohannes KeplerJohannes Kepler was a German mathematician, astronomer and astrologer. A key figure in the 17th century scientific revolution, he is best known for his eponymous laws of planetary motion, codified by later astronomers, based on his works Astronomia nova, Harmonices Mundi, and Epitome of Copernican...
's supernova, SN 1604SN 1604Supernova 1604, also known as Kepler's Supernova, Kepler's Nova or Kepler's Star, was a supernova that occurred in the Milky Way, in the constellation Ophiuchus. , it is the last supernova to have been unquestionably observed in our own galaxy, occurring no farther than 6 kiloparsecs or about...
, in SerpensSerpensSerpens is a constellation of the northern hemisphere. It was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations defined by the International Astronomical Union....
is observed, - 1862 – Alvan ClarkAlvan ClarkAlvan Clark , born in Ashfield, Massachusetts, the descendant of a Cape Cod whaling family of English ancestry, was an American astronomer and telescope maker. He was a portrait painter and engraver , and at the age of 40 became involved in telescope making...
observes Sirius BSiriusSirius is the brightest star in the night sky. With a visual apparent magnitude of −1.46, it is almost twice as bright as Canopus, the next brightest star. The name "Sirius" is derived from the Ancient Greek: Seirios . The star has the Bayer designation Alpha Canis Majoris...
, - 1866 – William HugginsWilliam HugginsSir William Huggins, OM, KCB, FRS was an English amateur astronomer best known for his pioneering work in astronomical spectroscopy.-Biography:...
studies the spectrumElectromagnetic spectrumThe electromagnetic spectrum is the range of all possible frequencies of electromagnetic radiation. The "electromagnetic spectrum" of an object is the characteristic distribution of electromagnetic radiation emitted or absorbed by that particular object....
of a novaNovaA nova is a cataclysmic nuclear explosion in a star caused by the accretion of hydrogen on to the surface of a white dwarf star, which ignites and starts nuclear fusion in a runaway manner...
and discovers that it is surrounded by a cloud of hydrogenHydrogenHydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...
, - 1885 – A supernovaSupernovaA supernova is a stellar explosion that is more energetic than a nova. It is pronounced with the plural supernovae or supernovas. Supernovae are extremely luminous and cause a burst of radiation that often briefly outshines an entire galaxy, before fading from view over several weeks or months...
, S AndromedaeS Andromedae|- style="background-color: #A0B0FF;" colspan="3"| Database References|- bgcolor="#FFFAFA"| Simbad || |- bgcolor="#FFFAFA"| ||...
, is observed in the Andromeda GalaxyAndromeda GalaxyThe Andromeda Galaxy is a spiral galaxy approximately 2.5 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Andromeda. It is also known as Messier 31, M31, or NGC 224, and is often referred to as the Great Andromeda Nebula in older texts. Andromeda is the nearest spiral galaxy to the...
leading to recognition of supernovae as a distinct class of novae, - 1910 – the spectrum of 40 Eridani B is observed, making it the first confirmed white dwarfWhite dwarfA white dwarf, also called a degenerate dwarf, is a small star composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. They are very dense; a white dwarf's mass is comparable to that of the Sun and its volume is comparable to that of the Earth. Its faint luminosity comes from the emission of stored...
, - 1914 – Walter Sydney AdamsWalter Sydney AdamsWalter Sydney Adams was an American astronomer.-Life and work:He was born in Antioch, Syria to missionary parents, and was brought to the U.S. in 1885 He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1898, then continued his education in Germany...
determines an incredibly high densityDensityThe mass density or density of a material is defined as its mass per unit volume. The symbol most often used for density is ρ . In some cases , density is also defined as its weight per unit volume; although, this quantity is more properly called specific weight...
for Sirius B, - 1926 – Ralph Fowler uses Fermi-Dirac statisticsFermi-Dirac statisticsFermi–Dirac statistics is a part of the science of physics that describes the energies of single particles in a system comprising many identical particles that obey the Pauli Exclusion Principle...
to explain white dwarfWhite dwarfA white dwarf, also called a degenerate dwarf, is a small star composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. They are very dense; a white dwarf's mass is comparable to that of the Sun and its volume is comparable to that of the Earth. Its faint luminosity comes from the emission of stored...
stars, - 1930 – Subrahmanyan ChandrasekharSubrahmanyan ChandrasekharSubrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, FRS ) was an Indian origin American astrophysicist who, with William A. Fowler, won the 1983 Nobel Prize for Physics for key discoveries that led to the currently accepted theory on the later evolutionary stages of massive stars...
discovers the white dwarfWhite dwarfA white dwarf, also called a degenerate dwarf, is a small star composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. They are very dense; a white dwarf's mass is comparable to that of the Sun and its volume is comparable to that of the Earth. Its faint luminosity comes from the emission of stored...
maximum mass limit, - 1933 – Fritz ZwickyFritz ZwickyFritz Zwicky was a Swiss astronomer. He worked most of his life at the California Institute of Technology in the United States of America, where he made many important contributions in theoretical and observational astronomy.- Biography :Fritz Zwicky was born in Varna, Bulgaria to a Swiss father....
and Walter BaadeWalter BaadeWilhelm Heinrich Walter Baade was a German astronomer who worked in the USA from 1931 to 1959.-Biography:He took advantage of wartime blackout conditions during World War II, which reduced light pollution at Mount Wilson Observatory, to resolve stars in the center of the Andromeda galaxy for the...
propose the neutron starNeutron starA neutron star is a type of stellar remnant that can result from the gravitational collapse of a massive star during a Type II, Type Ib or Type Ic supernova event. Such stars are composed almost entirely of neutrons, which are subatomic particles without electrical charge and with a slightly larger...
idea and suggest that supernovaSupernovaA supernova is a stellar explosion that is more energetic than a nova. It is pronounced with the plural supernovae or supernovas. Supernovae are extremely luminous and cause a burst of radiation that often briefly outshines an entire galaxy, before fading from view over several weeks or months...
e might be created by the collapse of normal stars to neutron stars—they also point out that such events can explain the cosmic ray backgroundCosmic microwave background radiationIn cosmology, cosmic microwave background radiation is thermal radiation filling the observable universe almost uniformly....
, - 1939 – Robert OppenheimerRobert OppenheimerJulius Robert Oppenheimer was an American theoretical physicist and professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley. Along with Enrico Fermi, he is often called the "father of the atomic bomb" for his role in the Manhattan Project, the World War II project that developed the first...
and George VolkoffGeorge VolkoffGeorge Michael Volkoff, OC, MBE, FRSC was a Canadian physicist and academic who helped, with J. Robert Oppenheimer, predict the existence of neutron stars before they were discovered.-Early life:...
calculate the first neutron starNeutron starA neutron star is a type of stellar remnant that can result from the gravitational collapse of a massive star during a Type II, Type Ib or Type Ic supernova event. Such stars are composed almost entirely of neutrons, which are subatomic particles without electrical charge and with a slightly larger...
models, - 1942 – J.J.L. Duyvendak, Nicholas MayallNicholas MayallNicholas Ulrich Mayall was an American observational astronomer. After obtaining his doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley, Mayall worked at the Lick Observatory, where he remained from 1934–1960, except for a brief period at MIT's Radiation Laboratory during World War II.During...
, and Jan OortJan OortJan Hendrik Oort was a Dutch astronomer. He was a pioneer in the field of radio astronomy. The Oort cloud of comets bears his name....
deduce that the Crab NebulaCrab NebulaThe Crab Nebula is a supernova remnant and pulsar wind nebula in the constellation of Taurus...
is a remnant of the 1054 supernovaSN 1054SN 1054 is a supernova that was first observed as a new "star" in the sky on July 4, 1054 AD, hence its name, and that lasted for a period of around two years. The event was recorded in multiple Chinese and Japanese documents and in one document from the Arab world...
observed by Chinese astronomers, - 1958 – Evry SchatzmanÉvry SchatzmanEvry Léon Schatzman was a French astrophysicist.His father, Benjamin Schatzman, was a dentist born in Tulcea, Romania and emigrated at a young age with his family in Palestine. Schatzman began his studies at the École Normale Supérieure in November 1939...
, Kent Harrison, Masami Wakano, and John WheelerJohn WheelerJohn Wheeler may refer to:* John Wheeler , American Emmy Award-winning audio/video engineer* John Wheeler , Union officer in the Civil War; killed at Gettysburg* John Wheeler John Wheeler may refer to:* John Wheeler (audio/video technologist) (born 1957), American Emmy Award-winning audio/video...
show that white dwarfs are unstable to inverse beta decayBeta decayIn nuclear physics, beta decay is a type of radioactive decay in which a beta particle is emitted from an atom. There are two types of beta decay: beta minus and beta plus. In the case of beta decay that produces an electron emission, it is referred to as beta minus , while in the case of a...
, - 1962 – Riccardo GiacconiRiccardo GiacconiRiccardo Giacconi is an Italian/American Nobel Prize-winning astrophysicist who laid the foundations of X-ray astronomy. He is currently a professor at the Johns Hopkins University.- Biography :...
, Herbert GurskyHerbert GurskyHerbert Gursky was the Superintendent of the Naval Research Laboratory's Space Science Division and Chief Scientist of the E.O. Hulburt Center for Space Research.-Biography:...
, Frank Paolini, and Bruno RossiBruno RossiBruno Benedetto Rossi was a leading Italian-American experimental physicist. He made major contributions to cosmic ray and particle physics from 1930 through the 1950s, and pioneered X-ray astronomy and space plasma physics in the 1960s.-Biography:Rossi was born in Venice, Italy...
discover Scorpius X-1Scorpius X-1Scorpius X-1 is an X-ray source located roughly 9000 light years away in the constellation Scorpius. Scorpius X-1 was the first extrasolar X-ray source discovered, and, aside from the Sun, it is the strongest source of X-rays in the sky...
, - 1967 – Jocelyn BellJocelyn Bell BurnellSusan Jocelyn Bell Burnell, DBE, FRS, FRAS , is a British astrophysicist. As a postgraduate student she discovered the first radio pulsars with her thesis supervisor Antony Hewish. She was president of the Institute of Physics from October 2008 until October 2010, and was interim president...
and Antony HewishAntony HewishAntony Hewish FRS is a British radio astronomer who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1974 for his work on the development of radio aperture synthesis and its role in the discovery of pulsars...
discover radio pulses from a pulsarPulsarA pulsar is a highly magnetized, rotating neutron star that emits a beam of electromagnetic radiation. The radiation can only be observed when the beam of emission is pointing towards the Earth. This is called the lighthouse effect and gives rise to the pulsed nature that gives pulsars their name...
, - 1967 – J.R. Harries, Ken McCracken, R.J. Francey, and A.G. Fenton discover the first X-rayX-rayX-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...
transient (Cen X-2), - 1968 – Thomas GoldThomas GoldThomas Gold was an Austrian-born astrophysicist, a professor of astronomy at Cornell University, a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and a Fellow of the Royal Society . Gold was one of three young Cambridge scientists who in the 1950s proposed the now mostly abandoned 'steady...
proposes that pulsarPulsarA pulsar is a highly magnetized, rotating neutron star that emits a beam of electromagnetic radiation. The radiation can only be observed when the beam of emission is pointing towards the Earth. This is called the lighthouse effect and gives rise to the pulsed nature that gives pulsars their name...
s are rotating neutron starNeutron starA neutron star is a type of stellar remnant that can result from the gravitational collapse of a massive star during a Type II, Type Ib or Type Ic supernova event. Such stars are composed almost entirely of neutrons, which are subatomic particles without electrical charge and with a slightly larger...
s, - 1969 – David Staelin, E.C. Reifenstein, William Cocke, Mike DisneyMike DisneyMichael John Disney is an astrophysicist. He discovered the optical component of the Crab Pulsar in 1969 with John Cocke...
, and Donald Taylor discover the Crab NebulaCrab NebulaThe Crab Nebula is a supernova remnant and pulsar wind nebula in the constellation of Taurus...
pulsar thus connecting supernovaSupernovaA supernova is a stellar explosion that is more energetic than a nova. It is pronounced with the plural supernovae or supernovas. Supernovae are extremely luminous and cause a burst of radiation that often briefly outshines an entire galaxy, before fading from view over several weeks or months...
e, neutron starNeutron starA neutron star is a type of stellar remnant that can result from the gravitational collapse of a massive star during a Type II, Type Ib or Type Ic supernova event. Such stars are composed almost entirely of neutrons, which are subatomic particles without electrical charge and with a slightly larger...
s, and pulsarPulsarA pulsar is a highly magnetized, rotating neutron star that emits a beam of electromagnetic radiation. The radiation can only be observed when the beam of emission is pointing towards the Earth. This is called the lighthouse effect and gives rise to the pulsed nature that gives pulsars their name...
s, - 1971 – Riccardo Giacconi, Herbert Gursky, Ed Kellogg, R. Levinson, E. Schreier, and H. Tananbaum discover 4.8 second X-ray pulsations from Centaurus X-3Centaurus X-3Centaurus X-3 is an X-ray pulsar with a period of 4.84 seconds. It was the first X-ray pulsar to be discovered, and the third X-ray source to be discovered in the constellation Centaurus.-History:...
, - 1974 – Russell HulseRussell Alan HulseRussell Alan Hulse is an American physicist and winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, shared with his thesis advisor Joseph Hooton Taylor Jr., "for the discovery of a new type of pulsar, a discovery that has opened up new possibilities for the study of gravitation"...
and Joseph Taylor discover the binary pulsarPulsarA pulsar is a highly magnetized, rotating neutron star that emits a beam of electromagnetic radiation. The radiation can only be observed when the beam of emission is pointing towards the Earth. This is called the lighthouse effect and gives rise to the pulsed nature that gives pulsars their name...
PSR B1913+16, - 1977 – Kip ThorneKip ThorneKip Stephen Thorne is an American theoretical physicist, known for his prolific contributions in gravitation physics and astrophysics and for having trained a generation of scientists...
and Anna Żytkow present a detailed analysis of Thorne-Żytkow objectThorne-Zytkow objectA Thorne–Żytkow object or TŻO is a hypothetical type of star wherein a red giant or supergiant contains a neutron star at its core. Such objects were hypothesized by Kip Thorne and Anna Żytkow in 1977...
s, - 1982 – Donald Backer, Shrinivas KulkarniShrinivas KulkarniShrinivas R. Kulkarni FRS is a professor of astrophysics and planetary science at California Institute of Technology. He is on the Space Interferometry Mission science team and is the director of optical observatories at California Institute of Technology, including Palomar and Keck.Kulkarni is...
, Carl Heiles, Michael Davis, and Miller Goss discover the millisecond pulsarMillisecond pulsarA millisecond pulsar is a pulsar with a rotational period in the range of about 1-10 milliseconds. Millisecond pulsars have been detected in the radio, X-ray, and gamma ray portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. The origin of millisecond pulsars is still unknown...
PSR B1937+214, - 1985 – Michiel van der Klis discovers 30 Hz quasi-periodic oscillations in GX 5-1,
- 1987 – Ian SheltonIan SheltonIan Keith Shelton is a Canadian astronomer famous for discovering SN 1987A, the first modern supernova close and bright enough to be visible to the naked eye.He received his B.Sc...
discovers SN 1987ASN 1987ASN 1987A was a supernova in the outskirts of the Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a nearby dwarf galaxy. It occurred approximately 51.4 kiloparsecs from Earth, approximately 168,000 light-years, close enough that it was visible to the naked eye. It could be seen from the Southern...
in the Large Magellanic CloudLarge Magellanic CloudThe Large Magellanic Cloud is a nearby irregular galaxy, and is a satellite of the Milky Way. At a distance of slightly less than 50 kiloparsecs , the LMC is the third closest galaxy to the Milky Way, with the Sagittarius Dwarf Spheroidal and Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy lying closer to the center...
... - 2006 – SN 2006gySN 2006gySN 2006gy was an extremely energetic supernova, sometimes referred to as a hypernova or quark-nova, that was discovered on September 18, 2006. It was first observed by Robert Quimby and P. Mondol, and then studied by several teams of astronomers using facilities that included the Chandra, Lick, and...
in NGC 1260NGC 1260NGC 1260 is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Perseus. In 2006, it was home to the second brightest object in the observable universe, supernova SN 2006gy.-External links:*...