14 DAY TRIAL // It is generally believed that supernovae usually spread dust into interstellar space as they explode. However, astrophysicists have recently found that this is not always the case, and some might actually collect dust after a supernova phase. These are usually small stars that explode periodically, while gathering clouds of spinning dust around them.
Such is the case of RS Ophiuchi, which is a binary system formed of a small white dwarf and a red giant. As the two orbit around each other, the red giant ejects part of the outer layers into space, which get collected by the white dwarf. The white dwarf grows in mass and becomes unstable, starting to heat the newly collected material until it lights it in a thermonuclear explosion, that propels the upper layers back into space.
Only this particular system previously 'went nova' at least five times, beginning with the year 1898 followed by 1933, 1958, 1967 and the latest in 1985. Back in February 2006, scientists decided to finally take advantage of the light emitted during the supernovae phase, in order to find out what is actually determining these repeated explosions. With the help of the Keck Nuller instrument mounted on the Keck Observatory in Hawaii, astronomers observed the surrounding of the system, by blocking the intense light generated from the supernova explosion.
However, during the observation, astronomers were shocked to find that there was in fact no debris in the area surrounding the system, and concluded that the dust cloud might have been vaporized by the intense heat of the explosion, but had not yet affected the most remote areas around the star, because the blast of the explosion had not yet reached them.
Astronomers previously thought that supernova explosions were creating high amounts of dust, during the time when white dwarfs were colliding with the outer layers of the red giant star, by creating large areas in which hot plasma could cool and condense into dust particles.