Exploding star's light illuminates galaxy

By Star-Advertiser staff

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Sep 02, 2012

~~<p>A dying star, discovered thanks to images captured by the Pan-STARRS1 telescope on Haleakala, has provided scientists with a glimpse into a galaxy about 9.5 billion light-years away.</p>
<p>"It's like someone turned on a flashlight in a dark room and suddenly allowed us to see, for a short time, what this far-off galaxy looks like, what it is composed of," said Edo Berger, leader of an international research team that used the exploding star's light as a probe to study gas conditions in the space between the host galaxy's stars.</p>
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A dying star, discovered thanks to images captured by the Pan-STARRS1 telescope on Haleakala, has provided scientists with a glimpse into a galaxy about 9.5 billion light-years away.

"It's like someone turned on a flashlight in a dark room and suddenly allowed us to see, for a short time, what this far-off galaxy looks like, what it is composed of," said Edo Berger, leader of an international research team that used the exploding star's light as a probe to study gas conditions in the space between the host galaxy's stars. Login for more...