Scientists have now discovered for the first time evidence of the existence of two massive stars from a binary system that ran out of fuel and exploded violently within a relatively short period of time, leaving behind clouds of glowing gas, known as nebulae, evidence that they existed.

The massive explosion of a star at the end of its life is known as the supernova phenomenon.

One of these two clouds is one of the most famous nebulae in our Milky Way Galaxy, and it is called the “Jellyfish Nebula” because of its resemblance to this marine creature.

Based on more than 16 years of observation using NASA’s Fermi gamma-ray space telescope, researchers found evidence of the presence of a second nebula relatively nearby, which helped them conclude that the Jellyfish Nebula is part of a double catastrophe.

Researchers believe that the Jellyfish Nebula, officially known as IC 443, arose when a star with a mass between 15 and 25 times the mass of the Sun exploded at the end of its life cycle.

Researchers also believe that the other nebula, officially known as G189.6+3.3, was created by the explosion of the companion star, which had a mass at least 20 times that of the Sun.

It is believed that both stars were, during their lifetime, at least tens of thousands of times brighter than the Sun. After they exploded, both might have turned into dense remnants called neutron stars.

Both stars are located about 6,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Gemini.

“This system provides a rare opportunity to reconstruct the entire evolutionary history of a massive binary system — from the birth and interaction of two massive stars, through the two supernova explosions, to the remnants they left behind,” said Miltiadis Michaelides, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Physics at Stanford University and lead author of the study published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications.

Michaelides added, “Although most massive stars are born in binary systems, no pair whose stars occurred in a supernova explosion and left behind observable remnants has ever been identified.”

Some massive stars are born in systems consisting of three or more stars.

The star associated with the newly discovered nebula is the one that exploded first, and the explosion severely affected its partner. The researchers estimated that between 20,000 and 110,000 years passed between the two explosions.