
NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. da Silva/M. Zamani/Spaceengine
Population III Star Explodes as a Pair-Instability Supernova
This artist’s impression shows a Population III star that is 300 times more massive than our Sun exploding as a pair-instability supernova — an all-consuming version of a supernova that has yet to be directly observed. New research may have detected the aftermath of one, however, in the clouds surrounding one of the most-distant quasars ever detected.