Star Exploded Too Early, May Blow Apart Supernova Theory

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has identified a star a million times brighter than the sun that exploded as a supernova in 2005 — well before it should have, according to current theories of stellar evolution.

The doomed star, estimated at about 100 times our sun's mass, was not mature enough, according to theory, to have evolved a massive iron core of nuclear fusion ash. This is the supposed prerequisite for a core implosion that triggers a supernova blast.

"This might mean that we are fundamentally wrong about the evolution of massive stars, and that theories need revising," says Avishay Gal-Yam of the Weizmann Institute of Science, in Rehovot, Israel. The finding appears in the online version of Nature Magazine.

The explosion, called supernova SN 2005gl, was seen in the barred-spiral galaxy NGC 266 on October 5, 2005. NGC 266 is about 200 million light years away, in the constellation Pisces.

What is a supernova?

Supernova is the last stage in the stellar evolution. Stellar evolution is basically the life cycle of a star. Supernova is a sudden explosion which may result in formation of black hole.

For more info on stellar evolution : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_evolution#Massive_stars
For more info on supernova : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernova

Yeah....
Basically a star's death leads to Supernova (or Black Holes in some cases).. Well that's what I've learnt..