Page "Chandrasekhar limit" Paragraph 30

In April 2003, the Supernova Legacy Survey observed a type Ia supernova, designated SNLS-03D3bb, in a galaxy approximately 4 billion light years away.

According to a group of astronomers at the University of Toronto and elsewhere, the observations of this supernova are best explained by assuming that it arose from a white dwarf which grew to twice the mass of the Sun before exploding.

They believe that the star, dubbed the " Champagne Supernova " by University of Oklahoma astronomer David R. Branch, may have been spinning so fast that centrifugal force allowed it to exceed the limit.

Alternatively, the supernova may have resulted from the merger of two white dwarfs, so that the limit was only violated momentarily.

Nevertheless, they point out that this observation poses a challenge to the use of type Ia supernovae as standard candles.