Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 11, 2026

Investigation of Early Plasma Evolution Induced by Ultrashort Laser Pulses
Published on: July 2, 2012
Pulsational pair instability as an explanation for the most luminous supernovae
S E Woosley1, S Blinnikov, Alexander Heger
1Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, UCSC, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA. woosley@ucolick.org
Abstract:
The extremely luminous supernova SN 2006gy (ref. 1) challenges the traditional view that the collapse of a stellar core is the only mechanism by which a massive star makes a supernova, because it seems too luminous by more than a factor of ten. Here we report that the brightest supernovae in the modern Universe arise from collisions between shells of matter ejected by massive stars that undergo an interior instability arising from the production of electron-positron pairs. This 'pair instability' leads to explosive burning that is insufficient to unbind the star, but ejects many solar masses of the envelope. After the first explosion, the remaining core contracts and searches for a stable burning state. When the next explosion occurs, several solar masses of material are again ejected, which collide with the earlier ejecta. This collision can radiate 10(50) erg of light, about a factor of ten more than an ordinary supernova. Our model is in good agreement with the observed light curve for SN 2006gy and also shows that some massive stars can produce more than one supernova-like outburst.
Related Concept Videos
Nuclear Stability
To hold positively charged protons together in the...
Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Spin State Population Distribution
Atomic Nuclei: Larmor Precession Frequency
Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Relaxation Processes
Atomic Nuclei: Types of Nuclear Relaxation
In spin–lattice or longitudinal relaxation, the excited spins exchange energy with the surrounding lattice as they return to the lower energy level. Among several mechanisms that contribute to spin–lattice relaxation, magnetic dipolar interactions are significant. Here, the excited nucleus transfers energy to a nearby...
The Principle of Superposition and the Gravitational Field

