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SPLAT! STAR THWACKED, GUTS flung into space at 15 per cent of LIGHTSPEED • The Register
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Yousuf Khan
Jul 26, 2015, 1:34:19 AM7/26/15
to
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/07/24/wham_star_punched_by_racing_pulsar_spatter_matter_goes_to_015_lightspeed/
> In perhaps the most violent punch that has ever been witnessed by humanity, a speeding pulsar has smashed right through a disk of matter bulging from the middle of a hefty star and blown a massive chunk of it guts into interstellar space at a significant fraction of light speed.
>
> That's according to top space boffins peering through the orbiting Chandra X-Ray telescope, who have been observing the vicious drubbing handed to the far-flung massive star B1259, 1,500 parsecs off in the constellation Crux (in the direction of the Southern Cross, that is).
>
> B1259, about thirty times as massive as our own Sun, is spinning very fast and has a big disk of matter bulging out around its middle as a result. It also has an abusive companion, a pulsar – that is an ultradense blob of neutronium left behind after an even bigger star blew up in a supernova. The pulsar travels around the big fellow in a very fast elliptical orbit such that it punches through the disk every 41 months.
>
> The latest punching observed by Chandra has seemingly spattered matter out of the disk with such violence that it is now travelling out into interstellar space at no less than 15 per cent of light speed.
>
> “After this clump of stellar material was knocked out, the pulsar’s wind appears to have accelerated it, almost as if it had a rocket attached,” said astroboffin Oleg Kargaltsev.
>
> “This just shows how powerful the wind blasting off a pulsar can be,” added Kargaltsev's colleague Jeremy Hare. “The pulsar’s wind is so strong that it could ultimately eviscerate the entire disk around its companion star over time.”
> In perhaps the most violent punch that has ever been witnessed by humanity, a speeding pulsar has smashed right through a disk of matter bulging from the middle of a hefty star and blown a massive chunk of it guts into interstellar space at a significant fraction of light speed.
>
> That's according to top space boffins peering through the orbiting Chandra X-Ray telescope, who have been observing the vicious drubbing handed to the far-flung massive star B1259, 1,500 parsecs off in the constellation Crux (in the direction of the Southern Cross, that is).
>
> B1259, about thirty times as massive as our own Sun, is spinning very fast and has a big disk of matter bulging out around its middle as a result. It also has an abusive companion, a pulsar – that is an ultradense blob of neutronium left behind after an even bigger star blew up in a supernova. The pulsar travels around the big fellow in a very fast elliptical orbit such that it punches through the disk every 41 months.
>
> The latest punching observed by Chandra has seemingly spattered matter out of the disk with such violence that it is now travelling out into interstellar space at no less than 15 per cent of light speed.
>
> “After this clump of stellar material was knocked out, the pulsar’s wind appears to have accelerated it, almost as if it had a rocket attached,” said astroboffin Oleg Kargaltsev.
>
> “This just shows how powerful the wind blasting off a pulsar can be,” added Kargaltsev's colleague Jeremy Hare. “The pulsar’s wind is so strong that it could ultimately eviscerate the entire disk around its companion star over time.”
Robert Clark
Jul 29, 2015, 10:53:31 AM7/29/15
to
I don't know if this is covering the same stellar collision but it will be
interesting in 2018:
Earth To See Galactic Fireworks Display In 2018 With Collision Of Pulsar
With Its Companion Star.
By Rhodi Lee, Tech Times | July 6, 10:44 AM
"Astronomers now prepare to witness high-energy cosmic fireworks set to
occur in early 2018 when a city-sized stellar remnant encounters one of the
Milky Way's brightest stars."
http://www.techtimes.com/articles/66349/20150706/earth-to-see-galactic-fireworks-display-in-2018-with-collision-of-pulsar-with-its-companion-star.htm
Bob Clark
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A mission to Europa could result in the most important scientific advance in
human history, dwarfing even the Apollo missions,
to discover life on another world. By commercial space, launch and
spacecraft costs can be slashed by a factor of 10 or more.
This would be a cost that could be financed privately. And at costs this low
it can even be done at a profit:
Low cost Europa lander missions.
http://exoscientist.blogspot.com/2015/02/low-cost-europa-lander-missions.html
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Yousuf Khan" wrote in message
news:D6adnTltl5XH7CnI...@giganews.com...
---
interesting in 2018:
Earth To See Galactic Fireworks Display In 2018 With Collision Of Pulsar
With Its Companion Star.
By Rhodi Lee, Tech Times | July 6, 10:44 AM
"Astronomers now prepare to witness high-energy cosmic fireworks set to
occur in early 2018 when a city-sized stellar remnant encounters one of the
Milky Way's brightest stars."
http://www.techtimes.com/articles/66349/20150706/earth-to-see-galactic-fireworks-display-in-2018-with-collision-of-pulsar-with-its-companion-star.htm
Bob Clark
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A mission to Europa could result in the most important scientific advance in
human history, dwarfing even the Apollo missions,
to discover life on another world. By commercial space, launch and
spacecraft costs can be slashed by a factor of 10 or more.
This would be a cost that could be financed privately. And at costs this low
it can even be done at a profit:
Low cost Europa lander missions.
http://exoscientist.blogspot.com/2015/02/low-cost-europa-lander-missions.html
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Yousuf Khan" wrote in message
news:D6adnTltl5XH7CnI...@giganews.com...
palsing
Jul 29, 2015, 1:47:34 PM7/29/15
to
> > neutronium left behind after an even bigger star blew up in a supernova.
> > The pulsar travels around the big fellow in a very fast elliptical orbit
> > such that it punches through the disk every 41 months.
> >
> > The latest punching observed by Chandra has seemingly spattered matter out
> > of the disk with such violence that it is now travelling out into
> > interstellar space at no less than 15 per cent of light speed.
> >
> > "After this clump of stellar material was knocked out, the pulsar's wind
> > appears to have accelerated it, almost as if it had a rocket attached,"
> > said astroboffin Oleg Kargaltsev.
> >
> > "This just shows how powerful the wind blasting off a pulsar can be,"
> > added Kargaltsev's colleague Jeremy Hare. "The pulsar's wind is so strong
> > that it could ultimately eviscerate the entire disk around its companion
> > star over time."
>
> ---
Apparently these are different stars.
> > The pulsar travels around the big fellow in a very fast elliptical orbit
> > such that it punches through the disk every 41 months.
> >
> > The latest punching observed by Chandra has seemingly spattered matter out
> > of the disk with such violence that it is now travelling out into
> > interstellar space at no less than 15 per cent of light speed.
> >
> > "After this clump of stellar material was knocked out, the pulsar's wind
> > appears to have accelerated it, almost as if it had a rocket attached,"
> > said astroboffin Oleg Kargaltsev.
> >
> > "This just shows how powerful the wind blasting off a pulsar can be,"
> > added Kargaltsev's colleague Jeremy Hare. "The pulsar's wind is so strong
> > that it could ultimately eviscerate the entire disk around its companion
> > star over time."
>
> ---
For B1259, in Crux...
http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=B1259&NbIdent=1&Radius=2&Radius.unit=arcmin&submit=submit+id
For MT91 213, in Cygnus...
http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=MT91+213&NbIdent=1&Radius=2&Radius.unit=arcmin&submit=submit+id
\Paul A
Yousuf Khan
Jul 29, 2015, 7:38:20 PM7/29/15
to
On 29/07/2015 1:47 PM, palsing wrote:
> Apparently these are different stars.
>
> For B1259, in Crux...
>
> http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=B1259&NbIdent=1&Radius=2&Radius.unit=arcmin&submit=submit+id
>
> For MT91 213, in Cygnus...
>
> http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=MT91+213&NbIdent=1&Radius=2&Radius.unit=arcmin&submit=submit+id
>
> \Paul A
It's really weird how there are two such star systems discovered, and
> Apparently these are different stars.
>
> For B1259, in Crux...
>
> http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=B1259&NbIdent=1&Radius=2&Radius.unit=arcmin&submit=submit+id
>
> For MT91 213, in Cygnus...
>
> http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=MT91+213&NbIdent=1&Radius=2&Radius.unit=arcmin&submit=submit+id
>
> \Paul A
they are discovered within days of each other.
Yousuf Khan
palsing
Jul 29, 2015, 11:11:22 PM7/29/15
to
dlzc
Jul 30, 2015, 11:03:10 AM7/30/15
to
Just for note:
On Wednesday, July 29, 2015 at 8:11:22 PM UTC-7, palsing wrote:
> On Wednesday, July 29, 2015 at 4:38:20 PM UTC-7, Yousuf Khan wrote:
> > On 29/07/2015 1:47 PM, palsing wrote:
> > > Apparently these are different stars.
> > >
> > > For B1259, in Crux...
> > >
> > > http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=B1259&NbIdent=1&Radius=2&Radius.unit=arcmin&submit=submit+id
> > >
> > > For MT91 213, in Cygnus...
> > >
> > > http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=MT91+213&NbIdent=1&Radius=2&Radius.unit=arcmin&submit=submit+id
> > >
> > > \Paul A
> >
> > It's really weird how there are two such star systems
> > discovered, and they are discovered within days of
> > each other.
>
So, apparently supernovas are NOT the sole source of heavier elements sprayed into interstellar space... Could this "apple peeling" be how a significant percentage of the stuff that the Earth is made from, go there?
Or is this just a baby step to another supernova event?
David A. Smith
On Wednesday, July 29, 2015 at 8:11:22 PM UTC-7, palsing wrote:
> On Wednesday, July 29, 2015 at 4:38:20 PM UTC-7, Yousuf Khan wrote:
> > On 29/07/2015 1:47 PM, palsing wrote:
> > > Apparently these are different stars.
> > >
> > > For B1259, in Crux...
> > >
> > > http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=B1259&NbIdent=1&Radius=2&Radius.unit=arcmin&submit=submit+id
> > >
> > > For MT91 213, in Cygnus...
> > >
> > > http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=MT91+213&NbIdent=1&Radius=2&Radius.unit=arcmin&submit=submit+id
> > >
> > > \Paul A
> >
> > It's really weird how there are two such star systems
> > discovered, and they are discovered within days of
> > each other.
>
> I suspect that, if they were looking specifically for
> this rarity, they would find even more... and I also
> suspect that the ARE!
Some gamma ray bursters, for sure.
> this rarity, they would find even more... and I also
> suspect that the ARE!
So, apparently supernovas are NOT the sole source of heavier elements sprayed into interstellar space... Could this "apple peeling" be how a significant percentage of the stuff that the Earth is made from, go there?
Or is this just a baby step to another supernova event?
David A. Smith
Steve Willner
Aug 6, 2015, 6:05:45 PM8/6/15
to
As Paul wrote, two different stars. Preprints are at
http://arxiv.org/abs/1502.01465
http://arxiv.org/abs/1505.07155
and you can easily find the published papers from ADS.
In article <8d0d282d-aaf7-434b...@googlegroups.com>,
interacting with extended disks above the stellar surfaces, not with
the stellar interiors. There's no reason I see for the disks to have
enhanced heavy element abundances. I haven't seen (and am not
doing!) a calculation, but I'd be surprised if the heavy element
enrichment by this process is more than trivial.
--
Help keep our newsgroup healthy; please don't feed the trolls.
Steve Willner Phone 617-495-7123 swil...@cfa.harvard.edu
Cambridge, MA 02138 USA
http://arxiv.org/abs/1502.01465
http://arxiv.org/abs/1505.07155
and you can easily find the published papers from ADS.
In article <8d0d282d-aaf7-434b...@googlegroups.com>,
dlzc <dl...@cox.net> writes:
> So, apparently supernovas are NOT the sole source of heavier
> elements sprayed into interstellar space...
An interesting thought, but it's not so clear. The neutron stars are
> So, apparently supernovas are NOT the sole source of heavier
> elements sprayed into interstellar space...
interacting with extended disks above the stellar surfaces, not with
the stellar interiors. There's no reason I see for the disks to have
enhanced heavy element abundances. I haven't seen (and am not
doing!) a calculation, but I'd be surprised if the heavy element
enrichment by this process is more than trivial.
--
Help keep our newsgroup healthy; please don't feed the trolls.
Steve Willner Phone 617-495-7123 swil...@cfa.harvard.edu
Cambridge, MA 02138 USA
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