Traces of a possible magnetorotational hypernova have been found
An article published in the journal “Nature” reports the identification of what is considered a magnetorotational hypernova, the explosion of a very massive star with a powerful magnetic field and in rapid rotation. A team of researchers led by David Yong, Gary Da Costa, and Chiaki Kobayashi collected evidence of this type of hypernova for the first time. That was achieved by examining the data collected not directly but by investigating a mysterious red giant star discovered in the Milky Way halo and cataloged as SMSS J200322.54-114203.3, or simply SMSS 2003-1142, in which there are anomalous quantities of some chemical elements explainable as the product of a magnetorotational hypernova.
