Standard Type Ia supernovae are binarysystems in which a white dwarf star draws so much matter from its companion (often a red giant) that it undergoes a kind of energy overload and detonates.
Most stars in the galaxy are, in fact, in binarysystems, and astronomers have been wondering whether the gravity of a second star nearby might disrupt a dust disc too much for planets to coalesce.
This theory seemed to agree with observations taken over the last three decades, which reveal that binarysystems are abundant, but none of the pairs have an orbital period shorter than five hours, the researchers said.