In space, even the smallest explosions are insanely powerful. Take a look at this new type of stellar explosion discovered by astronomers which are called a micronova. This sounds cute and not deadly at all. But the truth is that its explosion is equivalent to a nuclear bomb and has a size millions of times greater than mount Everest.
Ever thought of developing a nuclear bomb in space? You take a pair of stars which you can obviously find easily in space. While one-star ages faster than the other. This will cause the massive stars to burn through their material at a high rate. After that, you just wait while time and gravity do their job.
This new kind of stellar explosion can be commonplace in the universe. Micronovae may also change our understanding of how eruptions in stars occur. A micronova is a thermonuclear blast that lasts for just a few hours making them extremely difficult to observe. These outbursts happen on the surface of certain stars and can each burn through a huge amount of stellar material equivalent to around 3.5 billion Great Pyramids of Giza. Researcher’s from Durham University saw the phenomenon in three different white dwarfs, the remnants of dead stars as they fed in each case on a companion star. The first team came across the unusual micronova when they noticed a bright flash lasting for a short time while analysing data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite(TESS)
In total, they have till now observed three micronova using TESS. Out of which two were already known white dwarfs but the third one needed more research. It needed more observations with the X-shooter instrument for its white dwarf status to be confirmed. It just continues to show how dynamic the Universe is.
Micro Novae are extremely powerful but are small on astronomical scales compared to novae and supernovae, which are blinding and have been known for about centuries now. White dwarfs can steal material which is mostly in the form of hydrogen, from their companion stars if they are in contact with them.
Later when the hydrogen falls onto the very hot surface of the dwarf star its atoms fuse into helium in an explosive fashion. This explosion looks very fascinating as it appears in vibrant colours. In novae, this thermonuclear explosion occurs over the entire surface of the star, and the intensely bright light from this blast can be seen for weeks.
Micronovae have similar explosions but are smaller in scale and faster, lasting only for a few hours. They occur when white dwarfs with strong magnetic fields syphon material towards the star’s magnetic poles, causing hydrogen fusion to happen in a localised method. Therefore, the quick response from telescopes such as the Very Large Telescope (VLT) and ESO’s New Technology Telescope along with the help of other instruments used will allow us to unravel what this mysterious micronova is.
Bibliography:
1. n.a.“Micronova-Stellar Explosions”labmanager.21Apr,2022.Web.15Nov,2022.
<https://www.labmanager.com/news/astronomers-discover-new-type-of-stellar-explosion-called-micronovae-27968>
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