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Extremely energetic particles coupled with the violent death of a star for the first time by Staff Writers Copenhagen, Denmark (SPX) Nov 22, 2019
Researchers at the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen and DTU Space in Lyngby have determined the emission of extremely energetic light particles during the death of a very heavy star for the first time. The discovery was made in collaboration with a large, international team of scientists. The light particles were measured with the telescope MAGIC, situated on the Canary Islands. The researchers at the Niels Bohr Institute subsequently measured the particles with the neighboring Nordic Optical Telescope. The scientific perspective - the source detection of the emission of particles - is to gain basic insights into the extreme physical processes in the death of the heaviest stars. The study is now published in the journal Nature.
Gamma Ray Burst - what is that? "Presumably a black hole or an extremely magnetic neutron star is formed", Johan Fynbo from the Cosmic DAWN Center at the Niels Bohr Institute explains. The matter is compressed to form an enormously compact object, spinning extremely fast. The magnetic field along the rotational axis can become intense and emit energetic particles in the direction of the axis in what the researchers names as a "jet". If it points in our direction, we see a gamma ray burst.
Extremely energetic particles in the gamma ray burst reach us on Earth. Johan Fynbo and his colleagues, Daniele Malesani, Jonatan Selsing, Kasper Heintz and Luca Izzo observed the gamma ray burst only 29 minutes after its arrival on Earth and succeeded in measuring the distance to it. The distance is crucial in order to identify the source, which you have to know to understand the processes emitting a gamma ray burst this energetic into space. "It is extremely relativistic, which means that the jet emitted from the gamma ray burst travels with 99.999% of the speed of light, the fastest possible speed. And the basic understanding of the most extreme processes in space are at the center of the subsequent research. The discovery of a gamma ray burst also shows us that on this position in the Universe, the conditions for this extreme situation exist. In other words, we can use the gamma ray burst to learn more about these conditions as well", Daniele Malesani explains.
The Sun is born - and an old star dies When we know the distance, we can calculate the time of the explosion as well: It took place 4.5 million years ago. When we look into space, we also look back in time. The supernova happened almost simultaneously with the forming of our own sun. Since then, the light from the gamma ray burst has travelled through space and reached Earth on 14th of January 2019. The gamma ray burst is in the constellation "Fornax".
International collaboration - and an important upgrade of The Nordic Optical Telescope "Within 5 years, we should become much better at following up on this type of transients or violent, short lived, astrophysical events with The Nordic Optical Telescope. Several research projects are under way, and they should enable us to discover many more of the energetic light particles from dying stars and other extreme objects, in order to be able to study this type of physics in much better detail", Johan Fynbo explains.
When galaxies rotate, size matters Spotswood, Australia (SPX) Nov 18, 2019 The direction in which a galaxy spins depends on its mass, researchers have found. A team of astrophysicists analysed 1,418 galaxies and found that small ones are likely to spin on a different axis to large ones. The rotation was measured in relation to each galaxy's closest "cosmic filament" - the largest structures in the universe. Filaments are massive thread-like formations, comprising huge amounts of matter - including galaxies, gas and, modelling implies, dark matter. They can be 500 m ... read more
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