Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 20, 2026

Absolute Quantum Yield Measurement of Powder Samples
Published on: May 12, 2012
Massive-star supernovae as major dust factories
Ben E K Sugerman1, Barbara Ercolano, M J Barlow
1Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA. sugerman@stsci.edu
Abstract:
We present late-time optical and mid-infrared observations of the Type II supernova 2003gd in the galaxy NGC 628. Mid-infrared excesses consistent with cooling dust in the ejecta are observed 499 to 678 days after outburst and are accompanied by increasing optical extinction and growing asymmetries in the emission-line profiles. Radiative-transfer models show that up to 0.02 solar masses of dust has formed within the ejecta, beginning as early as 250 days after outburst. These observations show that dust formation in supernova ejecta can be efficient and that massive-star supernovae could have been major dust producers throughout the history of the universe.
Related Concept Videos
Types of Radioactivity
Alpha (α) decay is the emission of an α particle from the nucleus. For example, polonium-210 undergoes α decay:
Nuclear Fission
Nuclear Fusion
A helium nucleus has a mass that is 0.7% less than that of four hydrogen nuclei; this lost mass is converted into energy during the fusion. This reaction produces about...
Nuclear Transmutation
Rocket Propulsion in Gravitational Field - II
A rocket's acceleration depends on three major factors, consistent with the equation for the...
Detection of Black Holes
Their closest cousins are neutron stars, which are composed almost entirely of neutrons packed against each other, making them extremely dense. A neutron star has the same mass as the Sun but its diameter is only a few kilometers. Therefore, the escape velocity from their surface is close to the speed of light.
Not until the 1960s, when the first neutron...

