Using 16 years of data from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, researchers detected high-energy gamma rays coming from a faint, previously overlooked supernova remnant called G189.6+3.3, which sits right beside the well-studied remnant IC 443 (nicknamed the Jellyfish Nebula). Their analysis suggests that the two remnants aren't just neighbors by coincidence. Instead, they may be the leftover wreckage of a binary star system, making this the first confirmed case of two supernova remnants traced to the same stellar pair.
"We weren't really looking for a binary supernova remnant," study first author Miltiadis Michailidis, an astrophysicist and postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University, told Live Science. The team originally set out to characterize G189.6+3.3, which had long been overshadowed by its brighter neighbor. IC 443 is one of the best-studied remnants in the galaxy and among the first ever confirmed to accelerate protons — one of the key ingredients thought to produce cosmic rays, the high-energy particles that constantly strike Earth's atmosphere.
The explanation, they found, came down to the environment: The northern edge of the remnant presses against a dense cloud of hydrogen gas, which gives fast-moving protons something to collide with, thereby producing gamma rays, Michailidis said. The southern half lacks that dense material, letting a different, electron-driven process take over instead. Ultraviolet observations showed that the northern shock wave had slowed after slamming into the cloud, backing up that interpretation.
A dense cloud of hydrogen gas helped astronomers uncover clues that two neighboring supernova remnants may share the same origin. (Image credit: M. Michailidis et al. 2026)The team also estimated when each star likely exploded, finding that the two blasts were probably separated by tens of thousands of years. That finding is consistent with one star in a binary pair going supernova first, with its companion following suit long afterward.
RELATED STORIESRather than relying purely on computer models, astronomers can use this real-world system to test long-standing theories about how massive binary stars live, interact and eventually explode.
Michailidis said the team's next step is to search for similar binary remnant pairs elsewhere in the galaxy, to understand why this system has stood alone until now. He pointed to one particular payoff: Measuring the distance between two remnants' explosion centers can reveal how much energy a supernova actually released — a quantity that, until now, astronomers could only estimate from theory. "Now we can actually test it," he said.
Hence then, the article about in a cosmic first astronomers detect 2 sibling supernovas that came from a pair of bound stars was published today ( ) and is available on Live Science ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( In a cosmic first, astronomers detect 2 sibling supernovas that came from a pair of bound stars )
Also on site :
- Netflix sued for $105M by billionaire movie producer after his unreleased Nicolas Cage thriller goes missing
- We Asked 4 Psychologists What Usually Causes Adult Siblings To Drift Apart—They All Said the Same Thing
- ‘The Walking Dead’ Franchise to Stream on Both Netflix and AMC+ Beginning in 2027 Under New $500 Million Deal