NASA’s Chandra Finds Source of Star’s Mysterious Outbursts
Using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers have discovered what is triggering repeated outbursts from a giant, unstable star. A new study, published Monday in the latest issue of The Astrophysical Journal, details the discovery of a previously hidden companion object that keeps pulling material away from the massive star every 113 days as they orbit […] The post NASA’s Chandra Finds…
NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has uncovered the source of repeated outbursts from a massive, unstable star known as AT 2016blu. This star, located about 30 million light-years away in the spiral galaxy NGC 4559, is a type of luminous blue variable which experiences extreme fluctuations in brightness. The outbursts from AT 2016blu, akin to supernova explosions, occur roughly every 113 days.
A new study reveals that a concealed companion object, either a stellar-mass black hole or a neutron star, is responsible for these disruptions. As the star and its companion orbit each other, material from the star falls onto the black hole or neutron star at high speeds, heating the gas and causing it to emit X-rays. This phenomenon, observed for the first time in an ultra-luminous X-ray source, could have implications for understanding stellar eruptions before supernovae.
Written by urgent.news from NASA Science's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
