When Two neutron stars collide, The universe wins. The extreme crash is explosive and creates a “kilonova”, sending a bright, rapid explosion of gamma rays. It also sends ripples through the fabric of space-time. After that, scientists believe, Cosmic Smash creates a newly merged object that quickly falls into a black hole. But … what if he survives?
A new study, published in the Astrophysical Journal, but available as a print on the archive, describes the bright Kilonova and suggests that a neutron star collision can sometimes give birth to a magnet, an extreme neutron star with a magnetic field.
On May 22, a space telescope called NASA’s Neil Garels Swift Observatory, GRB 200522, was exploding gamma-rays in a very distant corner of space. Scientists believe that such short explosions occur when two neutron stars collide, so when one looks at a telescope, there is a mad roaring sound to get observations on other wavelengths on the electromagnetic spectrum. The collision in question is about.5. Billion billion years ago, but now only signals are taken in our telescopes.
In the new study, the research team looked at many different locations and ground-based telescopes at GRB 200522A, including NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, and observations after a bright gamma-ray explosion.
Using X-rays, radio and nearby infrared data, the team was able to measure the brightness of the gamma-ray explosion. But there was one specific observation that was not appropriate. Infrared images near Hubble showed an extremely bright explosion – 10 times brighter than any Kilonova (although only a handful have been observed so far).
“We scratched our heads for a while and pierced through all the possible models at our disposal,” says Wen-fi Fong, an astrophysicist at Northwestern University and lead author of the new research. “The closest infrared light we’ve seen since GRB 200522 was too bright to be explained by standard radioactive-powered Kilonova.”
To explain the extreme brilliance, Fong and his team finally settled on a model they called the “magnetor-boosted kilonova.”
Two neutron stars colliding in deep space may have given birth to a magnet. If confirmed, it would be the first time astronomers have seen the birth of these extreme stars.
Northwestern University
Kilonova is formed when two ga ense cosmic objects – like neutron stars and black holes – crash into each other. The merging process releases a ton of subtomic material into space, producing a gamma-ray explosion. Fong says you can think of it like a blender smoothie that you forgot to put a neutron, in which “neutron-rich” material would be flowing in the universe.
Team model Dell suggests that the formation of a magnet, a highly magnetic type neutron star, capable of supercharging a Kilonova event, will be brighter than astronomers predict.
“If confirmed, this will be the first time we will try to witness the birth of a magnet from a pair of neutron stars.”
But there is still some work to be done. Observing GRB 200522 with radio telescopes will help to clearly determine what happened around the continuous gamma-ray explosion. Radio waves from the event should be able to confirm what was seen in infrared wavelengths, but how long those waves take to reach Earth depends on the environment around GRB 200522A. The model suggests it may be about six years until we take such a signal, and Fong says the team will keep an eye on radio emissions for years to come.
Magnetars have long been mysterious cosmic bodies, but in recent weeks, astronomers have begun to shed some light on elusive dead stars. Last week, A team of astrophysicists reported the discovery of a rapid radio burst (FRB) from a magnet inside the Milky Way.. Important findings suggest that magnetars may be able to generate these mysterious radio signals at times, although the jury is out on whether they can create all FRBs. GRB 200522 may provide an opportunity to test that hypothesis again.
“If we were able to link the FRB to the location of GRB 200522A, it would be a surprising discovery and would actually be a smoke gun connecting this particular event to a magnet,” says Fong. However, he warns that it is surprising if there is any connection between himself and the FRB to break short gamma-rays.
But gamma-rays throw new mysteries and cosmic puzzles to solve the explosion. “I’ve been studying similar explosions for over a decade now, and short gamma-ray explosions can still amaze and amaze me,” Fong notes.
