Astronomers monitor a new method for the death of stars
The fate of a star depends on its mass (NASA)
It is embodied in what looks like a real collision at the heart of the galaxy
Astronomers have identified a new method for the death of stars, which is embodied in what looks like a real collision with the heart of the galaxy , according to a study whose results were published in the journal "Nature".
"Instead of a natural ending, stars could die in a collision," said Professor Andrew Levan of the Netherlands' Radboud University, who is the lead author of this recently published study.
The fate of a star usually depends on its mass. And the astrophysicist explains that "the matter ends up with large stars in a supernova (massive explosion), while stars with low mass, such as the sun, are extinguished in the form of a white dwarf."
These stars can also at more rare stations and in the case of neutron stars merge with each other when they are in a binary system as a pair of things born very close to each other, but the matter is different here, with the observation in October 2019 of a gamma-ray burst, In a stream of rays of enormous energy originating from a distant galaxy located in the direction of the constellation of Aquarius.
Depending on its duration, which ranges from less than two seconds to several minutes, such an event indicates, respectively, the merger of two neutron stars, or the explosion of a large supernova. This phenomenon, named GRB191019, and lasting longer than one minute, is assumed to belong to the second category.
But astronomers did not notice any signs of a supernova in the galaxy from which the burst of energy was launched and located about 2 billion light-years from Earth. However, it is nothing surprising, because this galaxy, so old, forms almost no stars anymore and thus no longer produces massive stars that would likely end up in a supernova.
Long observation of this event has given the key to solving the mystery. The phenomenon occurred very close to the galactic core, less than 100 light-years away. For comparison, our solar system is about 27,000 light-years from the center of the galaxy.
Andrew Levan explains that this galaxy's nucleus is "a very dense region that can contain tens of millions of stars, which can collide or scatter," especially since the "compact objects" that inhabit it, white dwarfs, neutron stars and small black holes, are subject to the gravitational force of the black hole. The colossal, lurking in the galactic center.
This led the international team of researchers to conclude that the two celestial bodies whose collision caused the gamma-ray burst "formed in different places from each other and met" in the heart of the galaxy, according to the astrophysicist.
Astronomers assume that such collisions, which were hypothesized to exist, could occur routinely in such an environment. But this observation is very difficult because the hearts of galaxies are regions full of dust and gas.
Source: websites