Scientific research is so peculiar.
In most other fields, mistakes usually mean significant losses. But in science, mistakes often mean progress.
Li Qingsong immediately diverted a portion of his mental capacity, along with some Blueprint scientists, to further investigate this peculiar phenomenon.
In most relatively violent astronomical phenomena, neutrinos always escape first—because neutrinos have higher penetrability.
Imagine a bomb with an extremely tough shell, needing to accumulate internal explosive energy to a certain level before it can rupture the shell, allowing external observers to see the explosion.
But neutrinos can preemptively, during the explosion's gestation period before it actually occurs, rely on their stronger penetrating ability to pass through the shell and reach the outside.
Thus, external observers can use neutrinos to determine whether the bomb will explode within a certain period of time in the future.
Obviously, observing standard neutrinos means the bomb will definitely explode within a certain period. No observation means no explosion.
Therefore, upon observing neutrinos and determining their direction and coordinates, Li Qingsong could preemptively direct astronomical telescopes to aim in that direction, waiting for the explosion to occur in order to fully observe the entire explosion and obtain complete and detailed data.
But this time, Li Qingsong was disappointed again.
He still couldn't find an optical counterpart.
"It shouldn't be... This level of neutrino radiation must be accompanied by a huge energy release; it's impossible for there to be no optical counterpart..."
Li Qingsong couldn't understand it.
Meanwhile, after further observing and analyzing these neutrino data, Li Qingsong discovered more strange things.
First, Li Qingsong had confirmed that these neutrinos should originate from a Type II supernova explosion.
Supernova explosions are divided into many types.
There are stellar supernova explosions: when a massive star reaches the end of its life, its core fuses into iron and accumulates to a certain level, the core suddenly loses its supporting force.
Massive stars have extremely strong gravity. Such a huge mass relies entirely on the core's powerful fusion energy to prevent collapse.
But the fusion of iron does not release energy; it absorbs energy.
At this moment, the massive star's own pressure is so great, but the core suddenly loses support because of the fusion into iron. What will happen?
Obviously, all external mass will rapidly collapse inward under its own gravity, its speed even reaching tens of thousands of kilometers per second.
Such powerful kinetic energy will instantly compress the star's core into a dense star, a neutron star.
The mass falling from the outside will be rebounded by the huge internal pressure, suddenly impacting outward.
Thus, the entire star will be blown to smithereens, and most of the energy composing the star will be scattered into the universe, leaving nothing but the dense neutron star at the core.
If the star is even larger, it may even form a black hole at its core.
This is a Type II supernova explosion, also known as a core-collapse supernova explosion.
Depending on the type of explosion, stellar supernova explosions are further divided into several categories.
In addition to stellar supernova explosions, there is another type of supernova explosion based on white dwarfs.
White dwarfs are also dense stars.
A typical neutron star usually has a radius of only 10 kilometers, but its mass is as high as about times the mass of the Sun.
Just imagine compressing a mass equivalent to Suns into a sphere with a radius of only 10 kilometers. How high would the density of this sphere be?
Compared to neutron stars, white dwarfs have lower mass and density, but they are still far beyond any common object and equally incredible.
A typical white dwarf has a radius of about 6,700 kilometers, similar to Earth, but its mass is comparable to the Sun.
This is equivalent to compressing the Sun's volume by more than a million times, and it is conceivable how high its density and gravity are, and how extreme its properties are.
Type Ia supernovae come from white dwarfs.
If a white dwarf has a companion star, the white dwarf has a certain probability of constantly plundering the companion star's mass, accumulating it on its surface, and increasing its own mass.
With higher mass, internal pressure and temperature will increase.
White dwarfs are usually composed of elements such as carbon and oxygen. Its own mass, temperature, and pressure were originally insufficient to support the fusion of these elements. But now, the mass increase from the companion star has increased its temperature and pressure, so carbon and oxygen elements can also begin to fuse.
And the fusion of carbon and oxygen elements will further increase the temperature and pressure inside the white dwarf, making the fusion rate faster.
This was originally nothing. For ordinary stars, if the internal temperature and pressure are high, it will obviously start to expand, thereby reducing the internal temperature and pressure, thus achieving a stable, dynamic equilibrium.
But this mechanism fails on white dwarfs.
Because white dwarfs are too dense and too hard. If ordinary stars are like balloons that can easily become larger or smaller, white dwarfs are like stones that cannot become larger to reduce their internal temperature and pressure.
The consequences can be imagined.
Carbon-oxygen fusion will become faster and faster, eventually losing control. Eventually, all the carbon and oxygen elements that make up the entire white dwarf will fuse simultaneously, releasing energy at the same time.
Thus, the white dwarf, equivalent to an entire Sun, suddenly explodes under this uncontrolled and violent energy release, and the entire planet is blown to smithereens.
This is a Type Ia supernova.
There are many different types of supernova explosions, but one thing is certain: no matter what type of supernova explosion it is, it will release unimaginable amounts of energy, making it one of the most violent energy release processes in the universe.
The energy of a supernova explosion will be poured into all surrounding space in 360 degrees without dead angles. The energy it releases in a few seconds is even more than all the energy released by the Sun throughout its entire life cycle, about 10 billion years.
When a supernova explosion occurs, in those few seconds, even the light of the entire Milky Way galaxy, with hundreds of billions of stars, will be temporarily obscured by it.
But Li Qingsong observed such a violent explosion twice in a row in the same place, and neither time could he find an optical counterpart.
It seems that these two supernova explosions are "dim" and do not emit light.
But how is this possible?
Also, the number of neutrinos seems to be wrong.
Li Qingsong confirmed that the radiation source was a Type II supernova explosion through the energy level of the neutrinos, but the number he observed was too small, far less than the normal supernova explosion model.
This seems to mean... that only a small portion of the energy of this supernova explosion was released through neutrinos?
