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11th August 2014 – Irish scientist leads Betelgeuse project

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A supergiant star could in future experience a violent double explosion so bright that it may be visible to the naked eye during daylight on Earth.

The mechanism leading to the phenomenon has been newly identified by an international team of researchers led by an Irish astrophysicist. More details

The researchers, led by Irish scientist Dr Jonathan Mackey, who is based at the University of Bonn in Germany, suggest that the collision of debris following the explosion of other such red supergiant stars could be much brighter than the original supernova explosion, because their stellar winds and shells are denser than that found around Betelgeuse.

Some of the computer model used to produce the research was created by Dr Mackey while he was a student at the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies between 2006 and 2010.