Astronomers can detect powerful bursts of energy from the deep and deep universe.
Sometimes the source of these eruptions is a mystery.
Scientists recently observed a giant explosion about 130 million light-years from Earth. Previously, hmm Discover a massive collision Here from a known merger of two neutron stars – collapsed stars that are perhaps the densest objects in the universe. But this dramatic event, which produced a powerful current of energy, began to fade away. After about three and a half years, something else, something newor create another strange explosion or release of energy.
“There is something else going on right now,” Ido Berger, a professor of astronomy at Harvard University and one of the scientists who discovered this new cosmic event, told Mashable.
The burst of energy, captured by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory (which detects emissions from extremely hot places in the universe), was intense. Astronomers liken him to loud voice Made when a speeding plane breaks the sound barrier.
at New research published in Astrophysical Journal LettersAbrajita Hajela, the astronomer who led the research, explained that astronomers are proposing two possible scenarios that might explain the event, neither of which has been previously observed. Hajela is a doctoral student in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Northwestern University.
- Kilonova glow: What? In this ground-breaking interpretation, when two neutron stars (objects so dense that a teaspoon of a neutron star weighs about a billion tons) collide, they cause an extremely bright explosion, called a kilonova. A kilonova could be of great importance to the universe and our life: astronomers believe that important elements and minerals were formed in these explosions, such as gold and platinum. “It is one of the proposed dominant locations for the heaviest elements in the universe,” he explained.Hagelah. But after this massive explosion of kilonova, astronomers suggested that the debris spilled out into space, generating a shock wave or explosion. The explosion heated up anything around it, such as gases or star dust. This is the kilonova glow or afterglow that we can detect from millions of light years away.
- Black hole: Another possibility is that the dramatic merger of a neutron star led to the creation of a black hole – “an object with such strong gravitational force that nothing, not even light, can escape from it”, NASA explains Now the material from the collision is falling into the black hole. When debris falls, it releases a lot of energy as it orbits around the powerful dark object. This may be the source of this newly discovered energy from far space.
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Artist’s rendering of the collision of two neutron stars.
Image Credit: National Science Foundation / LIGO / Sonoma State University / A. Simonnet
Artist’s visualization of hot gas and debris stripped from neutrons before they collide.
Image Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center / CI Lab
Not surprisingly, two neutron stars collide in space. In fact, it is common for stars to orbit near other stars in the same solar system. Many stars are not as lonely as the Sun. “Most stars are actually found in systems with one or more companions,” Hagel explained. Eventually, the stars run out of fuel and collapse. Then, densely packed neutron stars can lose momentum and collide, resulting in mergers and large explosions of energy.
Now, the looming question is how astronomers will determine whether they detect a kilonova glow or matter falling into a black hole. They will continue to see the type of light, or radiation, coming from this deep space location. This will reveal the source. (If the glow is later, they would expect more radio emissions; but black holes emit X-ray emissions.)
Who knows what these following observations will reveal about events taking place in the deep universe?
“That’s not the end of the story,” Berger said.
