A team of astronomers has observed what they believe to be a neutron star born after a supernova first discovered in 1987, in a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way 170,000 light-years from Earth, called SN 1987A.
Until now, astronomers were not sure if the neutron star survived the powerful event and did not simply indulge in itself to form a black hole – but a new paper published last week in The Astrophysical Journal suggests that it may have survived after all.
This means that the neutron star would be a millennial, not older than 33.
If confirmed, it would be the youngest neutron star known to mankind Astronomy reports. To date, the youngest supernova remnant is the 330-year-old Cassiopeia A, about 11,000 light-years away from Earth in the Milky Way.
Analyzing high-resolution images of the Atacama Large Millimeter / Submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile, a team of astronomers was able to take a closer look at what was left behind after SN 1987A.
They found a hot ‘blob’ at the core of the supernova, probably a gas cloud orbiting the neutron star. The star itself would be far too small to detect immediately, because it is extremely small and dense – the mass of 1.4 times the sun in an atmosphere that is only 15 miles away.
“We were very surprised to see this hot blob created by a thick cloud of dust in the supernova remnant,” said Mikako Matsuura of Cardiff University who made the discovery with ALMA, said in a statement.
The discovery by the ALMA team supports the new theoretical study published last week.
‘There must be something in the cloud that warms the dust and that makes it shine. That is why we suggested that a neutron star is hidden in the dust cloud, ‘Matsuura added.
“Despite the extreme complexity of a supernova explosion and the extreme conditions prevailing in the interior of a neutron star, the detection of a hot matter is a confirmation of several predictions,” leads author Dany Page, astrophysicist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, stated in the statement.
According to computer models, the neutron star would be sent hundreds of kilometers per second screaming through space. The location where the ALMA team found it is exactly where it would be today, according to the models.
The theoretical star was also found extremely bright, in large part due to its hypothetical temperature of about five million degrees Celsius.
It will take time until the existence of the star can be confirmed. The dust and gas around the supernova must drop further for astronomers to say with all certainty that the extremely young star really does exist.
READ MORE: Hot ‘blob’ refers to a neutron star located in Supernova 1987A [Astronomy]
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