In other cases, another member of the system will go on to form a second white dwarf. If gravitational instabilities bring these two objects together, then their collision will create a single object with a much higher mass. This will also restart fusion, leading to an explosion.

The explosion of a star, called a supernova, is an immensely violent event. It usually involves a star more than eight times the mass of our sun that exhausts its nuclear fuel and undergoes a core collapse,

An explosion captured in a new image could help astronomers to better understand the "standard candles" at the center of a major cosmological mystery.