In a first, an image shows a dying star exploded twice to become a supernova 

Two waves of calcium hint at the double detonation

Artistic reconstruction of a double explosion of a white dwarf.

A newly imaged, 300-year-old supernova (illustrated) may have been triggered by a white dwarf exploding not once, but twice.

M. Kornmesser/ESO

For the first time, astronomers have spotted a star that exploded not once, but twice. A new image of a roughly 300-year-old supernova provides visual evidence that some dying stars undergo a double explosion, researchers report July 2 in Nature Astronomy.