Supernova Alert: “Supernova Factories” Discovered

Source: Universe Today

Two “supernova factories,” rare clusters of Red Supergiant (RSG) stars, have recently been discovered. Together they contain 40 RSGs, which is nearly 20% of all the known RSGs in the Milky Way, and all 40 are on the brink of going supernova. “RSGs represent the final brief stage in a massive star’s lifecycle before it goes supernova,” said Dr. Ben Davies of the Rochester (New York) Institute of Technology. “They are very rare objects, so to find this many in the same place is remarkable.” (read more…)