Astronomy And Physics News

"Unraveling the Mysteries of a Supernova's 'String of Pearls'"

Research from the University of Michigan suggests that the "string of pearls" encircling supernova 1987A may be explained by the Crow instability rather than the Rayleigh-Taylor instability, shedding light on a longstanding astrophysical mystery. The Crow instability, known for creating breaks in airplane contrails, can predict the number of clumps seen around the supernova remnant, with the team's simulation closely matching the observed 30 to 40 clumps. This mechanism may also be at play in the formation of planets from dust around stars, although further research is needed to explore this possibility.