When old stars slow down — Harvard Gazette

1.0Harvard Gazettehttps://test.news.harvard.edu/gazetteharvardgazettehttps://test.news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/author/harvardgazette/When old stars slow down — Harvard Gazetterich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="oM30oPCzwE"><a href="https://test.news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2011/09/when-old-stars-slow-down/">When old stars slow down</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://test.news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2011/09/when-old-stars-slow-down/embed/#?secret=oM30oPCzwE" width="600" height="338" title="“When old stars slow down” — Harvard Gazette" data-secret="oM30oPCzwE" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script> /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(d,l){"use strict";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),c=new RegExp("^https?:$","i"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display="none";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):"link"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute("src")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener("message",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute("data-secret"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+="#?secret="+t,e.setAttribute("data-secret",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:t},"*")},!1)))}(window,document); //# sourceURL=https://test.news.harvard.edu/wp-includes/js/wp-embed.min.js </script> https://test.news.harvard.edu/gazette/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/explodingstars605.jpg605403New research from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics shows that some old stars might be held up by their rapid spins, and when they slow down, they explode as supernovae. Thousands of these "time bombs" could be scattered throughout our Galaxy.