‘This is the first time we have seen a star that was essentially stripped to the bone’
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An example of SN 2021yfj, a new type of supernova. | Credit: WM Keck Observatory/Adam Makarenko
Astronomers used a new type of supernova in which a large star was brought towards “bone” to better understand the star life and death process.
When other big stars die supernova The explosions detect strong signals of light elements such as hydrogen and helium on the surface of the star. However, in this supernova, which is called SN2021yfj and has 2.2 billion light years from the Earth, this team found a different chemical signature. This included traces of heavier elements caused by the depths of the progenitor star such as silicone, sulfur and argon.
If dying stars, astrophysicists now become theory, have onion -like structures with heavier elements towards the iron seeds on their surfaces, and this star should lose their outer layer somehow, thus exposing the rich layers of inner silicone and sulfur. before “He went to Nova.” This not only confirms the layers Structure of Great StarsBut at the same time, star scientists provide a rare look at the inside of a star before the explosion in a supernova.
“This is the first time we saw a star that has been stripped of the bone,” Team Leader and Scientist Steve Schulze said. He said in a statement. “It shows how the stars are configured and proves that the stars can lose too much material before the explosion. Not only does they lose their outermost layers, they can also go down completely down, and they can still produce a bright explosion that we can observe from very, very far distances.”
SN2021YFJ was first seen in September 2021 Zwicky temporary facility (ZTF), our models star life and death And the star structure may be correct, they may not fully define the explosive death throats of all stars.
“This activity is literally unlike anything that no one has ever seen before,” Northwestern University researcher and team member Adam Miller said. He said. “Maybe we thought we didn’t observe the right object. It was almost so strange. This star tells us that our ideas and theories about the evolution of stars are very narrow. The textbooks are not wrong, but they do not fully capture everything produced in nature.
He continued: “There must be more exotic ways to end a big star life.”
The team’s research was published in the magazine on Wednesday, August 20 Nature.
A burning onion in space
Supernovas’s progenitor stars are 10 to 100 times larger than the sun, but still produce their energy nuclear fusion Lighter elements to heavier elements in the seeds.
Whereas The sun will die When finished Fusing nucleus hydrogen with helium In about 5 billion years, larger stars have pressure and temperatures in the nuclei that will fuse the heavier and heavier elements to the iron. As this process emerges, lighter elements continue to move to the nuclear combustion in the outer shells of large stars.
When the nuclei of the large stars are pure iron hearts, they collapse and triggered a supernova, breaking the outer layers. The collapsed iron core end neutron staror in the largest stars, Black hole.
To learn about Supernova, astronomers seek the signatures of chemical elements using a process called spectroscopy. The team was able to earn a spectroscopic picture of SN2021YFJ. WM Keck Observatory Hawaii.
“We thought we had completely lost our opportunity to receive these observations.” He said. “So we were disappointed. But the next morning, a colleague in Uc Berkeley unexpectedly provided a spectrum. Without this spectrum, we may have never noticed that it was a strange and unusual explosion.”
An example of an explosion of a gamma ray exploding from a dense environment around a large star washing | Credit: NASA, ESA and M. Kornmesser
This revealed that the SN2021yfj stood apart from other supernova, because the layers that were torn during the explosive end deepened than the deaths of other major stars. Astronomers saw heavy elements as heavy as carbon or oxygen during other supernovas due to previous star loss. Outdoor Hydrogen layers. However, it has been heavier than the depths of the progenitor stars.
“We saw an interesting explosion, but we had no idea what happened.” He said. “Almost instantly, we noticed that there was something we’ve never seen before, so we had to work with all the existing resources.”
The SN2021YFJ spectrum did not only contain traces of heavy element; happened judge With strong signals of heavy elements such as silicone, sulfur and argon. Thus, this investigation appeared very early, there was a particularly excessive and violent thing about the SN2021YFJ.
“This star has lost most of the material he has produced throughout his life.” He continued: “So, we could see the material formed in the months before the explosion. Something very violent to cause it should have been.”
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What causes this special supernova to be violent is still mysterious with a few possible scenarios, such as a great supernova burst, unusual strong star winds, or even a starring star away from this dying star before the explosive death.
However, the team thinks that the most likely explanation is the so -called numerous sections “Double instability“When the nuclear fusion prevailed, it caused strong energy explosions of the star’s outer shells. This would be similar to the effective disintegration of the Great Star before the Supernova death.
“Although we have a theory of how nature created this special explosion,” Miller said. “I don’t bet my life is right, because we still have only one discovered example.
“This star underlines the need to reveal more of these rare supernova to better understand their nature and how they are.”
