Supernovae are big, but magnetorotational hypernovae are even bigger.
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00:00 Supernovas, or when stars explode, are massively energetic events that have the ability to
00:09 change the very galaxies in which they reside.
00:12 But now experts say they've discovered an explosion that's even bigger, to the tune
00:16 of ten times a supernova.
00:17 According to Science Alert, certain heavy elements are thought to only have been created
00:21 through the merger of two massive neutron stars, called a kilonova.
00:25 But in the Milky Way's halo, there is a star called SMSS J2003-1142.
00:31 Within that star, there are some of these heavy elements.
00:33 But now scientists theorize they weren't produced by two neutron stars colliding, but
00:37 rather by the collapse of a fast-rotating star with an extreme magnetic field, oh, and
00:42 about 25 times the mass of the Sun.
00:44 They're calling the event a magnetorotational hypernova, and it could explain how these
00:49 heavy elements smashed into existence earlier than previously thought possible.
00:52 So why is star SMSS important?
00:55 Well based on levels of other elements, scientists can tell it's chemically pretty primitive,
00:59 meaning it should be too young to have the heavy elements produced by a neutron star
01:02 merger.
01:03 So they must have come from its parent star, during a hyper-explosive, magnetorotational
01:07 hypernova.
01:08 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:12 (upbeat music)