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The exposed core of a massive star was first observed, a finding that the team that came across described it as purely “coincidence.”
Although the cores stars The vast majority of stellar energy is generated by nuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium, and is usually obscured by the bright outer substance that envelops it. Stellar cores are only detected in extremely rare and short-lived conditions.
Observing such a nucleus in isolation could help astrophysicists better understand the nuclear processes that occur in the cores of stars and how stellar bodies evolve.
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The exposed stellar core in question, a previously observed bright star called Gamma Columbae (γ Columbae). It has a mass between 4 and 5 times the mass of the Sun. The team that revealed its revealing nature believes it was once part of a massive star 12 times more massive the sun.
The nature of γ Columbae has been revealed by astronomers, including lead research author Andreas Irrgang of the Dr. Karl Remeis-Observatory and the ECAP Working Group at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Bamberg, Germany, where they were observing a group of stars and found that one of them was unusual.
To further investigate the spectrum of light emitted by this unusual star, astronomers have detected an increasing abundance of helium and nitrogen. Since these nuclear ash are usually obscured by outer stellar plasma, this indicates that Columbae’s outer shell is missing.
“This is probably the most interesting factor of all, in terms of the scientific result, because all the cores are hidden in other stars and here we have one naked, one abstract, and that will leave a very special signal in its pulsations,” said Norbert Przybyla, head of the Institute for Astronomy and Particle Physics at the University of Innsbruck. And one of the study authors, in the current situation (Opens in a new tab) to the motherboard. “We have to follow up on that.”
This led them to question what processes would have stripped γ-Columbian of its outer layers greatly reducing its radius and leaving it as a glowing nucleus.
The team thinks the former mega star may have finished recently hydrogen fusion to helium in core with previous research also indicating this to be the case although no hint of the revealed fundamental nature of γ Columbae.
The end of hydrogen fusion causes the star’s outer layers to “swell”. If a binary star companion is pulled into this expanding envelope of stellar matter, it could cause that material to be ejected.
The team suggests two possible alternative mechanisms that could leave an exposed core behind. Stripping of outer matter by feeding a companion binary star, or evacuation of outer matter by stellar winds to expose cores, which are typically seen in the later stages of incredibly massive stars with a mass of 20 to 25 times the mass of stars. the sun.
Further study of γ Columbae will be needed to evaluate the true mechanism underlying the exposed nature of the nucleus because the star does not quite fit criteria that match these proposed mechanisms. “Having a bare stellar core with this mass is unique to date,” Prisbylla told Motherboard, adding that the star so far looks like a “strange ball.”
One thing astronomers are fairly certain of is that this bare primordial existence is a phase of the life of γ Columbae that will only last about 10,000 years. Despite a long period of time from a human perspective, this is nothing more than the blink of an eye that is proverbial in cosmic terms.
This also indicates that the discovery of this exposed stellar core is indeed very likely.
As for the future of this exposed core, the team said Columbay is currently using helium to fuel nuclear fusion, creating heavier elements, which will eventually also begin to fuse. When γ Columbae eventually runs out of fuel for nuclear fusion, the energy that prevents the core from collapsing under the internal stress of its own gravity will also cease.
This will lead to a gravitational collapse resulting in a supernova stripping and turning γ-Columbian into a neutron star – a stellar remnant that condenses the mass of the Sun to a diameter about the average city on Earth.
Astronomers suggest that a better understanding of γ Columbae can come from studying it with Asterose scienceIt is a scientific field that studies the oscillations of stars and how sound waves pass through the plasma that composes them to study stellar interiors.
The team’s research has been published in the journal natural astronomy (Opens in a new tab).
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