10 stars due to go supernova

Meet the stellar suspects most likely to explode, sending out planet-destroying shock waves

Meet the stellar suspects most likely to explode, sending out planet-destroying shock waves

Since ancient times supernovae – the explosive deaths of stars – have been observed and recorded with fascination. Chinese astronomers described an event in 185 CE as resembling a large bamboo mat in the sky and noted that its five colours were “both pleasing and otherwise”. Almost a thousand years later in 1006 CE Islamic scholars witnessed a spectacle three times the apparent size and 16 times the brightness of Venus, which may also have been recorded in Native American petroglyphs.

In 1604 astronomer Johannes Kepler directly observed the most recent supernova to have originated within the Milky

Way. It originated 20,000 light years away and was so bright that it could be seen during the daytime for three weeks.

Within our own galaxy, only five supernovae have been observed with the naked eye in the last millennium. Others have been recorded telescopically – including SN 1987A in the Large Magellanic Cloud.

It’s been estimated that about one or two of these events occur in any single century. Yet the vast distances between the stars and the immense amount of time required for their light to reach us mean that in most cases we are only able to see the stars as they were hundreds or even thousands of years ago.

Although we know which stars have almost exhausted their nuclear fuel reserves and are approaching the end of their lifetimes, we can only surmise when they will ‘go supernova’. Ten candidates of varying ages and sizes are known to be close to death. They may have already exploded, and the light from their agonised death throes may still be hurtling across the universe at 300,000 kilometres (186,000 miles) per second to someday reach us. We may not see a supernova in our lifetime… or we could see one tomorrow.