2023-10-19 06:00:13
An ultra-powerful plasma blade slicing a star in two: this breathtaking scenario might explain some of the brightest explosions in the Universe, according to a recent study. Researchers from the Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics at New York University (New York University: NYU,…) present this unique concept.
Ultracompact objects with intense magnetic fields, called magnetars, might be cut in two by ultra-powerful plasma blades, perhaps explaining the source of some of the brightest explosions in the Universe (The Universe is All of everything that exists and the laws that govern it.).
Image: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
The study, still in pre-publication on arXiv, seeks to elucidate the origin of certain gamma ray explosions (GRB). These powerful but distant phenomena are only visible as brief bursts of gamma radiation. Astrophysicists generally consider black holes or magnetars to be involved in these explosions.
The new model suggests that when some massive stars die, their core collapses to form a neutron star, or magnetar. The latter, surrounded by hydrogen (Hydrogen is a chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1.) and helium (Helium is a noble gas or rare gas, practically inert. With atomic number 2, it …), generates extremely powerful magnetic fields thanks to their high density (The density or relative density of a body is the ratio of its density to the…) and their rapid rotation.
The emerging magnetar creates a chaotic environment. Its gravitational pull pulls in the remaining atmosphere of the parent star, but radiation and magnetic fields stir up this raging plasma. Ultra-powerful plasma blades, or “relativistic blades”, are then formed, capable of cutting the star in two at a speed (We distinguish:) close to that of light (Light is the set of visible electromagnetic waves by the eye…).
These blades travel several times the radius of the original star before losing energy, offering an explanation for some long-lived GRBs. The researchers now plan to study the evolution of these blades in order to determine the key signatures of this type of explosion.
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