Scientific research is truly unique.

In most other fields, errors typically lead to significant losses. However, in the realm of science, errors often signify progress.

Tom immediately diverted some of his mental capacity, along with a portion of the Bluetoth scientists, to further research this peculiar phenomenon.

In most violent astronomical phenomena, neutrinos always escape first—because neutrinos possess higher penetrability.

Imagine a bomb with an extremely tough casing that requires the internal explosive energy to accumulate to a certain degree before it can rupture the casing, allowing external observers to witness the explosion;

However, neutrinos can, during the incubation period of the explosion, even before it truly occurs, preemptively penetrate the casing and reach the outside world by virtue of their stronger penetrative ability.

Thus, external observers can use neutrinos to determine whether the bomb will explode in the near future.

Clearly, if neutrinos conforming to the standard are observed, this bomb will definitely explode in the near future. If none are observed, it will not explode.

Therefore, upon observing the neutrinos and determining the direction and coordinates, Tom could pre-position astronomical telescopes to aim in that direction, awaiting the explosion to fully observe the entire event and acquire complete, detailed data.

But this time, Tom was disappointed again.

He still couldn't find an optical counterpart.

"This shouldn't be… Neutrino radiation of this magnitude must be accompanied by a massive release of energy; it's impossible for there to be no optical counterpart…"

Tom was utterly perplexed.

Meanwhile, after further observation and analysis of the neutrino data, Tom discovered more strange things.

Firstly, Tom 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, and its core fuses iron elements to a certain extent, the core suddenly loses its support.

The gravity of a massive star is extremely powerful. Such an immense mass is only prevented from collapsing by the powerful fusion energy in its core.

However, the fusion of iron elements does not release energy; instead, it absorbs energy.

At this moment, with the massive star's immense internal pressure and its core suddenly losing support due to iron fusion, what would happen?

Clearly, all the external mass would rapidly collapse inward under its own gravity, with speeds potentially reaching hundreds of thousands of kilometers per second.

Such powerful kinetic energy would instantly compress the stellar core into a dense celestial body, a neutron star.

The infalling external mass would then rebound off the immense pressure within, suddenly surging outward.

Consequently, the entire star would be obliterated, and most of the energy comprising the star would be scattered into the universe, leaving nothing but the dense neutron star at its core.

If the star were even larger, it could even form a black hole in its core.

This is a Type II supernova explosion, also known as a core-collapse supernova explosion.

Based on the type of explosion, stellar supernova explosions are further subdivided into several categories.

Besides stellar supernova explosions, there is also another type of supernova explosion based on a white dwarf.

A white dwarf is also a 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.

Imagine compressing a mass equivalent to 1.4 Suns into a sphere with a radius of just 10 kilometers; to what extent would the density of this sphere be high?

Compared to a neutron star, a white dwarf has lower mass and density, but it still far exceeds any common object and is equally incredible.

A typical white dwarf has a radius of approximately 6,700 kilometers, comparable to Earth, but its mass is comparable to the Sun.

This is equivalent to compressing the Sun's volume by over a million times, so one can imagine how high its density and gravity are, and how extreme its own properties are.

Type Ia supernovae originate from white dwarfs.

If a white dwarf has a companion star, there is a certain probability that the white dwarf will continuously accrete mass from the companion star, accumulating it on its surface and increasing its own mass.

As the mass increases, the internal pressure and temperature will rise.

white dwarfs are typically composed of elements like carbon and oxygen. Their own mass, temperature, and pressure are normally insufficient to support the fusion of these elements. But now, the increased mass from the companion star raises its temperature and pressure, allowing carbon and oxygen to begin fusing.

And the fusion of carbon and oxygen will further increase the internal temperature and pressure of the white dwarf, accelerating the fusion rate.

This wouldn't normally be an issue; for ordinary stars, if the internal temperature and pressure increase, it would obviously begin to expand, thereby lowering its internal temperature and pressure, thus achieving a stable, dynamically balanced state.

But this mechanism fails in a white dwarf.

Because a white dwarf is too dense and too rigid. If an ordinary star is like a balloon that can easily expand and contract, a white dwarf is like a stone that cannot expand to lower its internal temperature and pressure.

The consequences are then predictable.

Carbon-oxygen fusion will accelerate faster and faster, eventually becoming uncontrollable, and finally, all the carbon and oxygen elements that make up the entire white dwarf will fuse simultaneously, releasing energy at the same time.

Thus, a white dwarf, equivalent to an entire Sun, suddenly explodes under this uncontrolled, violent energy release, and the entire star is completely obliterated.

This is a Type Ia supernova.

There are many different types of supernova explosions, but one undeniable point is that no matter what type of supernova explosion, it will release an unimaginably intense amount of energy, arguably the most violent energy release process in the universe.

The energy of a supernova explosion is unleashed 360 degrees into all surrounding space without blind spots. The energy it releases in just a few seconds is even more than all the energy released by the Sun throughout its entire life cycle, approximately 10 billion years, combined.

When a supernova explosion occurs, in those few seconds, even the light from the entire Milky Way, with hundreds of billions of stars combined, will be temporarily overshadowed by it.

But Tom had observed such violent explosions twice in the same location, and both times, he had found no optical counterpart.

It seemed these two supernova explosions were "dark," non-luminous.

But how could this be?

And the number of neutrinos also seemed incorrect.

Tom had confirmed the radiation source as a Type II supernova explosion through the neutrino energy levels, but the quantity he observed was too small, far less than a normal supernova explosion pattern.

This seemed to imply… that only a small portion of the energy from this supernova explosion was released through neutrinos?

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