Scientific research is peculiar in this way.
In most other fields, mistakes usually mean significant losses. But in science, mistakes often mean progress.
Li Qingsong immediately diverted some of his brainpower, along with a portion of his blueprint scientists, to further investigate this peculiar phenomenon.
In most of the more violent astronomical phenomena, neutrinos are always the first to escape—because neutrinos have greater penetrative power.
Imagine a bomb with an extremely tough casing. The explosive energy inside must build up to a certain point before it can shatter the casing, allowing an external observer to see the explosion.
But neutrinos, with their superior penetrating ability, can pierce through the casing and reach the outside world during the bomb's "gestation period," before the explosion truly occurs.
Thus, an external observer can use these neutrinos to determine if the bomb will explode in the near future.
Obviously, if neutrinos matching the criteria are detected, the bomb is guaranteed to explode within a certain period. If none are detected, it will not.
Therefore, by detecting the neutrinos and determining their direction and coordinates, Li Qingsong could pre-emptively aim his astronomical telescopes in that direction, wait for the explosion, and observe the entire event to obtain complete and detailed data.
But this time, Li Qingsong was once again disappointed.
He still couldn't find the optical counterpart.
'This shouldn't be... A neutrino flux of this magnitude must be accompanied by a massive energy release. It's impossible for there to be no optical counterpart...'
Li Qingsong was completely baffled.
At the same time, after further observation and analysis of the neutrino data, Li Qingsong discovered even more strange things.
First, Li Qingsong had already determined that these neutrinos likely originated 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 and its core has fused and accumulated iron up to a certain point, the core suddenly loses its supporting pressure.
A massive star's own Gravity is extremely powerful. Its colossal mass is supported against collapse solely by the immense fusion energy generated in its core.
But the fusion of iron doesn't release energy; on the contrary, it absorbs energy.
At this moment, with the massive star's pressure so immense, yet its core suddenly losing support due to the fusion of iron, what happens?
Obviously, all the outer mass, under the influence of its own Gravity, will rapidly collapse inward at speeds that can even reach hundreds of thousands of kilometers per second.
This tremendous kinetic energy will instantly compress the Stellar core into a dense celestial body: a neutron star.
The infalling outer material then rebounds off the immense pressure from within, creating a sudden outward shockwave.
As a result, the entire star is blown to smithereens. Most of the energy that composed the star is scattered into the Cosmos, leaving nothing behind but the dense neutron star at its core.
If the star is even more massive, it might 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 subdivided into several categories.
Besides Stellar Supernova Explosions, there is another type based on the White Dwarf Star.
A White Dwarf Star is also a type of dense celestial body.
A typical neutron star usually has a radius of only 10 kilometers, but its mass is about 1.4 times that of the Sun.
Just imagine compressing the mass of 1.4 Suns into a sphere with a radius of only 10 kilometers. The density of such a sphere would be astoundingly high.
Compared to a neutron star, a White Dwarf Star has lower mass and density, but they are still far beyond any common object, equally incredible.
A typical White Dwarf Star has a radius of about 6,700 kilometers, comparable 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. One can only imagine how high its density and Gravity are, and how extreme its properties.
Type Ia Supernovae originate from White Dwarf Stars.
If a White Dwarf Star has a companion star, there is a chance it will continuously siphon mass from its companion, accumulating it on its own surface and increasing its own mass.
As the mass increases, the internal pressure and temperature rise.
A White Dwarf Star is typically composed of elements like carbon and oxygen. Its own mass, temperature, and pressure are normally insufficient to support the fusion of these elements. But now, the added mass from the companion star has raised its temperature and pressure, allowing carbon-oxygen fusion to begin.
The fusion of carbon and oxygen further increases the internal temperature and pressure of the White Dwarf Star, causing the fusion rate to accelerate.
This wouldn't normally be a problem. For a regular star, when the internal temperature and pressure get too high, it will obviously begin to expand, thereby lowering its internal temperature and pressure and achieving a stable, dynamic equilibrium.
But this mechanism fails on a White Dwarf Star.
Because a White Dwarf Star is too dense, too rigid. If a regular star is like a balloon that can easily expand and contract, a White Dwarf Star is like a rock—it cannot expand to lower its internal temperature and pressure.
The consequences are predictable.
The carbon-oxygen fusion will get faster and faster, eventually running out of control. In the end, all the carbon and oxygen making up the entire White Dwarf Star will fuse simultaneously, releasing all their energy at once.
And so, the White Dwarf Star, with the mass equivalent to an entire Sun, violently explodes under this runaway energy release, and the entire star is blown to smithereens.
This is a Type Ia Supernova.
There are many different types of Supernova Explosions, but one thing is certain: regardless of the type, every Supernova Explosion releases an unimaginably intense amount of energy, making it arguably the most violent energy release process in the Cosmos.
The energy from a Supernova Explosion radiates out into the surrounding space in all directions. The energy it releases in just a few seconds is greater than all the energy the Sun will release over its entire 10-billion-year lifespan combined.
When a Supernova Explosion occurs, for those few seconds, its brilliance can temporarily outshine the combined light of the hundreds of billions of stars in the entire Milky Way Galaxy.
But Li Qingsong had now observed two such violent explosions in the same location, and both times, he had failed to find an optical counterpart.
It seemed these two Supernova Explosions were "dim," non-luminous.
But how could that be possible?
And, the number of neutrinos also seemed wrong.
Li Qingsong had confirmed from the neutrinos' energy levels that the source was a Type II Supernova Explosion, but the number he observed was too low—far lower than in a normal Supernova Explosion model.
Did this mean... that in this Supernova Explosion, only a small fraction of the energy was released via neutrinos?