Following Flare-Ups, Star Finally Explodes

This is Scientific American's 60-Second Space. I'm John Matson. Got a minute?
As Dr.Soran, the bad guy in the movie Star Trek: Generations, found out, blowing up a star sometimes takes a few tries.
Such was also the case for an object called SN 2009ip.
It's a star in a galaxy about 80 million light-years away.
Or, rather, it was a star.
It first drew attention in 2009, when it flared up brightly in an apparent supernova—a star exploding at the end of its life.
But it was soon unmasked as a supernova impostor--a nonfatal outburst from a massive star that only looks like a full-blown supernova.
Following two subsequent flare-ups, astronomers have now concluded that SN 2009ip has gone supernova at last.
During a 2012 outburst, the star brightened much more than usual, becoming a billion times as luminous as the sun.
And spectroscopic observations revealed that gas was racing outward at roughly 8,000 kilometers per second.
Speeds that high indicate a cataclysmic explosion triggered by the collapse of the star's core.
The research will appear in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Astronomers now have the rare opportunity to study details of a supernova--both before and after.
Thanks for the minute, for Scientific American's 60-Second Space. I'm John Matson.