Astronomers discover new type of thermonuclear stellar explosion micronova
Astronomers discover new type of thermonuclear stellar explosion micronova
A line of astronomers using the European Southern Observatory's Really Large Telescope (VLT) has observed a new type of stellar explosion, known as a micronova. These bursts occur on the surfaces of certain stars, and each can burn up about 3.5 billion large groups of Giza material in just a few hours.
"For the first time, we have discovered and linked
so-called micronovae," explains Simone Scaringi, an astronomer at Durham
University, UK, who led the study of these explosions, which has just been
published in the journal Nature. "This miracle challenges our
understanding of how thermonuclear explosions work in stars. We admit we know
this, but this discovery suggests a whole new way to approach them," he
added.
A white dwarf in a two- star system can steal material,
substantially hydrogen, from its companion star if they're close enough
together. As this gas falls onto the veritably hot face of the white dwarf
star, it triggers the hydrogen tittles to fuse into helium strongly. In novae,
these thermonuclear explosions do over the entire astral face. “ Similar
eruptions make the entire face of the white dwarf burn and shine brightly for
several weeks,” explainsco-author Nathalie Degenaar, an astronomer at the
University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
This artist’s print shows a two- star system where micronovae
may do. The blue slice swirling around the bright white dwarf in the centre of
the image is made up of material, substantially hydrogen, stolen from its
companion star. Towards the centre of the slice, the white dwarf uses its
strong glamorous fields to channel the hydrogen towards its poles. As the
material falls on the hot face of the star, it triggers a micronova explosion,
contained by the glamorous fields at one of the white dwarf’s poles. Credit
ESO/M. Kornmesser,L. Calçada
Micronovae are similar explosions that are smaller, more
active, and last only a few hours. They do this in some white dwarfs with
strong charismatic fields that direct matter to the star's charismatic pole.
"We are now seeing for the first time that hydrogen emulsions can also be
localized. Hydrogen energy can be contained at the bottom of the fascinating
poles of some white dwarfs, so the emulsion only occurs at these fascinating
poles," said astronomers from Radboud University in the Netherlands, who
led the study said co-author Paul Groot.
"This results in a microfusion loser with a burst that
is about one millionth the strength of a nova, hence the name micronova,"
continued Groot. While "microscopic" might indicate that these events
were small, make no mistake, one of these eruptions could have burned about a
trillion kilograms, or about 3.5 billion giza chunks of material.
This artist’s print shows a two- star system, with a white
dwarf (in the focus) and a companion star (in the background), where micronovae
may do. The white dwarf steals accoutrements from its companion, which is
channeled towards its poles. As the material falls on the hot face of the white
dwarf, it triggers a micronova explosion, contained at one of the star’s poles.
Credit Mark Garlick
The platoon first came across these
mysteriousmicro-explosions when assaying data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet
Survey Satellite (TESS). “ Looking through astronomical data collected by
NASA’s TESS, we discovered commodity unusual a bright flash of optic light lasting
for a many hours. Searching further, we plant several analogous signals,” says
Degenaar.
This videotape shows an vitality of a micronova explosion.
The blue slice swirling around the bright white dwarf in the center of the
image is made up of material, substantially hydrogen, stolen from its companion
star. Towards the center of the slice, the white dwarf uses its strong
glamorous fields to channel the hydrogen towards its poles. As the material
falls on the hot face of the star, it triggers a micronova explosion, contained
by the glamorous fields at one of the white dwarf’s poles. Credit ESO/L.
Calçada,M. Kornmesser
Further information
This exploration was presented in a paper title “ Localised
thermonuclear bursts from collecting glamorous white dwarfs” to appear in
Nature. A follow-up letter, named “ Driving micronovae through magnetically
confined accretion flows in collecting white dwarfs” has been accepted for
publication in Yearly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
The platoon on the Nature paper is composed ofS. Scaringi
(Centre for Extragalactic Astronomy, Department of Physics, Durham University,
UK (CEA)),P.J. Groot (Department of Astrophysics, Radboud University,N?megen,
the Netherlands (IMAPP) and South African Astronomical Observatory, Cape Town,
South Africa (SAAO) and Department of Astronomy, University of Cape Town, South
Africa (Cape Town)),C. Knigge (School of Physics and Astronomy, University of
Southampton, Southampton, UK (Southampton)),A.J. Bird (Southampton),E. Breedt
(Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, UK),D.A.H. Buckley (SAAO,
Cape Town, Department of Physics, University of the Free State.
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