American astronomers from Pennsylvania State University have discovered a rare pair of stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. The study was published in the scientific journal magazine Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS).
Scientists have detected an extremely bright X-ray burst in the open binary system CXOU J005245.0–722844, where a white dwarf is adjacent to a hot young star surrounded by a disk of dust and gas. Today experts know only seven such systems.
According to the researchers, the flare was caused by a nova, a phenomenon in which material from an active star falls onto the surface of a white dwarf, a smoldering stellar core in the final stage of its life cycle.
When the white dwarf accumulates a sufficient amount of matter, a rapid thermonuclear reaction occurs, accompanied by a powerful explosion.
Astronomers note that the nova explosion in CXOU J005245.0-722844 differs from other similar events not only in the extreme brightness of the flare, but also in its short duration, and the reasons for this are still unclear.
Previous scientists discovered The flow of energy from a massive black hole is exploding stars thousands of light years away from its source.
What are you thinking?
Source: Gazeta
Barbara Dickson is a seasoned writer for “Social Bites”. She keeps readers informed on the latest news and trends, providing in-depth coverage and analysis on a variety of topics.