What specific behavior did NASA’s Chandra X-ray telescopes reveal regarding a star's outer material just before collapse?

Answer

Evidence of shedding material through winds only to have it fall back onto the star.

Recent astronomical monitoring, particularly utilizing instruments like NASA’s Chandra X-ray telescope, has provided dynamic insight into the immediate pre-supernova environment of certain stars. This data has revealed an 'inner conflict' in the star’s final hours or days. This complex behavior involves the star generating powerful stellar winds that eject some outer material into space, only for that same material to subsequently fall back onto the star's increasingly unstable structure before the final, catastrophic implosion occurs. This observation highlights the extremely dynamic and unstable nature of the star during the final struggle against the gravitational collapse, complicating the path the final shockwave must take.

What specific behavior did NASA’s Chandra X-ray telescopes reveal regarding a star's outer material just before collapse?

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