WHY IN NEWS?

Indian researchers have spotted a rare superluminous supernova that shines with the energy borrowed from an exotic type of neutron star with an ultra-powerful magnetic field.

What is Superluminous Supernova?

• A super-luminous supernova is a type of stellar explosion with a luminosity 10 or more times higher than that of standard supernovae.
  • A supernova is the explosion of a star. It is the largest explosion that takes place in space.
• Superluminous supernova is generally rare because they originate from very massive stars (minimum mass limit is more than 25 times that of the Sun) and the number distribution of such massive stars in our galaxy or in nearby galaxies is small.