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Science 14 July 2006:
Vol. 313. no. 5784, p. 144
DOI: 10.1126/science.313.5784.144a
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This Week in Science

Figure 1 Supernova explosions are thought to have spread dust (mostly carbon and silicate grains) from the dying embers of stars throughout galaxies and beyond. Observations, however, have failed to find enough dust in supernovae to support this idea. Sugerman et al. (p. 196, published online 8 June; see the Perspective by Dwek) used the Spitzer Space Telescope to map the infrared glow from warm dust around the recent supernova SN 2003gd and found 10 times more dust than has been seen in any such object. The progenitor star that exploded as SN 2003gd was more massive than the Sun and similar to the massive and short-lived stars that would have been the first to explode in the early universe. The quantity of dust found here is sufficient for supernovae to have been the dominant dust factories in the early universe and later spreading heavy elements throughout the first galaxies.

CREDIT: L. NITTLER/CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON




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