* . *
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Sunday, June 8, 2025
Earth-News
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Reeves to Announce £86 Billion for Science and Technology in Spending Review – Bloomberg

    Reeves Set to Unveil Groundbreaking £86 Billion Investment in Science and Technology!

    Innovation at Scale: How P&G Transforms Business Through Technology – Procter & Gamble

    Revolutionizing Business: P&G’s Bold Journey into Technological Innovation

    Drag racer survives frightening airborne crash at World Wide Technology Raceway – FOX 2

    Drag racer survives frightening airborne crash at World Wide Technology Raceway – FOX 2

    Apple Watch and the future of wearable technology in healthcare – MSN

    Revolutionizing Healthcare: The Future of Wearable Technology with Apple Watch

    ECS Professor Pankaj K. Jha Receives NSF Grant to Develop Quantum Technology – Syracuse University News

    Unlocking the Future: ECS Professor Pankaj K. Jha Secures NSF Grant for Groundbreaking Quantum Technology Development

    Fire Tech Brief: 5 Fire Apparatus Technology Upgrades – firehouse.com

    Revving Up Safety: 5 Innovative Upgrades for Fire Apparatus Technology

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Reeves to Announce £86 Billion for Science and Technology in Spending Review – Bloomberg

    Reeves Set to Unveil Groundbreaking £86 Billion Investment in Science and Technology!

    Innovation at Scale: How P&G Transforms Business Through Technology – Procter & Gamble

    Revolutionizing Business: P&G’s Bold Journey into Technological Innovation

    Drag racer survives frightening airborne crash at World Wide Technology Raceway – FOX 2

    Drag racer survives frightening airborne crash at World Wide Technology Raceway – FOX 2

    Apple Watch and the future of wearable technology in healthcare – MSN

    Revolutionizing Healthcare: The Future of Wearable Technology with Apple Watch

    ECS Professor Pankaj K. Jha Receives NSF Grant to Develop Quantum Technology – Syracuse University News

    Unlocking the Future: ECS Professor Pankaj K. Jha Secures NSF Grant for Groundbreaking Quantum Technology Development

    Fire Tech Brief: 5 Fire Apparatus Technology Upgrades – firehouse.com

    Revving Up Safety: 5 Innovative Upgrades for Fire Apparatus Technology

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
Earth-News
No Result
View All Result
Home Science

A New Way To Annihilate a Star: Stellar Demolition Derby Near Black Hole in Ancient Galaxy

June 24, 2023
in Science
A New Way To Annihilate a Star: Stellar Demolition Derby Near Black Hole in Ancient Galaxy
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Gamma-Ray Burst Artistic Illustration

An international team of astrophysicists led by Radboud University in the Netherlands discovered a novel mechanism that destroys stars and generates a gamma-ray burst (GRB). (Artistic illustration of a gamma-ray burst.) Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/M. Garlick/M. Zamani

Astrophysicists have discovered a new mechanism for star destruction and gamma-ray burst generation, originating from stellar collisions in the dense environments near supermassive black holes in ancient galaxies. This finding, published in Nature Astronomy, enhances our understanding of star deaths and might point to previously unknown sources of gravitational waves.

While searching for the origins of a powerful gamma-ray burst (GRB), an international team of astrophysicists may have stumbled upon a new way to destroy a star.

Although most GRBs originate from exploding massive stars or neutron-star mergers, the researchers concluded that GRB 191019A instead came from the collision of stars or stellar remnants in the jam-packed environment surrounding a supermassive black hole at the core of an ancient galaxy. The demolition derby-like environment points to a long-hypothesized — but never-before-seen — way to demolish a star and generate a GRB.

The study was published on June 22 in the journal Nature Astronomy. Led by Radboud University in the Netherlands, the research team included astronomers from Northwestern University.

“For every hundred events that fit into the traditional classification scheme of gamma-ray bursts, there is at least one oddball that throws us for a loop,” said Northwestern astrophysicist and study co-author Wen-fai Fong, “However, it is these oddballs that tell us the most about the spectacular diversity of explosions that the universe is capable of.”

“The discovery of these extraordinary phenomena within dense stellar systems, especially those encircling supermassive black holes at the cores of galaxies, is undeniably exciting,” said Northwestern astrophysicist and study co-author Giacomo Fragione. “This remarkable discovery grants us a tantalizing glimpse into the intricate dynamics at work within these cosmic environments, establishing them as factories of events that would otherwise be deemed impossible.”

This artist’s impression illustrates how astronomers studying a powerful gamma-ray burst (GRB) with the Gemini South telescope, operated by NSF’s NOIRLab, may have detected a never-before-seen way to destroy a star. Unlike most GRBs, which are caused by exploding massive stars or the chance mergers of neutron stars, astronomers have concluded that this GRB came instead from the collision of stars or stellar remnants in the jam-packed environment surrounding a supermassive black hole at the core of an ancient galaxy.

Fong is an assistant professor of physics and astronomy at Northwestern’s Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and a member of the Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA). Fragione is a research assistant professor in CIERA. Other Northwestern co-authors include Anya Nugent and Jillian Rastinejad — both Ph.D. students in astronomy and members of Fong’s research group.

Most stars die, according to their mass, in one of three predictable ways. When relatively low-mass stars like our sun reach old age, they shed their outer layers, eventually fading to become white dwarf stars. More massive stars, on the other hand, burn brighter and explode faster in cataclysmic supernovae explosions, creating ultra-dense objects like neutron stars and black holes. The third scenario occurs when two such stellar remnants form a binary system and eventually collide.

But the new study finds there might be a fourth option.

“Our results show that stars can meet their demise in some of the densest regions of the universe, where they can be driven to collide,” said lead author Andrew Levan, an astronomer with Radboud University. “This is exciting for understanding how stars die and for answering other questions, such as what unexpected sources might create gravitational waves that we could detect on Earth.”

Long past their star-forming prime, ancient galaxies have few, if any, remaining massive stars. Their cores, however, teem with stars and a menagerie of ultra-dense stellar remnants, such as white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes. Astronomers have long suspected that in the turbulent beehive of activity surrounding a supermassive black hole, it only would be a matter of time before two stellar objects collided to produce a GRB. But evidence for that type of merger has remained elusive.

On Oct. 19, 2019, astronomers glimpsed the first hints of such an event when NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory detected a bright flash of gamma rays that lasted a little over one minute. Any GRB lasting longer than two seconds is considered “long.” Such bursts typically come from the collapse of stars at least 10 times the mass of our sun.

The researchers then used the Gemini South telescope in Chile — part of the International Gemini Observatory operated by the National Science Foundation’s NOIRLab — to make long-term observations of the GRB’s fading afterglow.

These observations enabled the astronomers to pinpoint the location of the GRB to a region less than 100 light-years from the nucleus of an ancient galaxy — very near the galaxy’s supermassive black hole. Curiously, the researchers also found no evidence of a corresponding supernova, which would leave its imprint on the light captured by Gemini South.

“The lack of a supernova accompanying the long GRB 191019A tells us that this burst is not a typical massive star collapse,” said Rastinejad, who performed calculations to ensure a supernova was not hiding within the data. “The location of GRB 191019A, embedded in the nucleus of the host galaxy, teases a predicted but not yet evidenced theory for how gravitational-wave emitting sources might form.”

In typical galactic environments, the production of long GRBs from colliding stellar remnants, such as neutron stars and black holes, is incredibly rare. The cores of ancient galaxies, however, are anything but typical, and there may be a million or more stars crammed into a region just a few light-years across. Such extreme population density may be great enough that occasional stellar collisions can occur, especially under the titanic gravitational influence of a supermassive black hole, which would perturb the motions of stars and send them careening in random directions. Eventually, these wayward stars would intersect and merge, triggering a titanic explosion that could be observed from vast cosmic distances.

“The discovery of this event in the core of its old, quiescent galaxy opens the door to promising new avenues for the formation of binary systems that have rarely been observed before.”
— Anya Nugent, Ph.D. student in astronomy

“This event confounds almost every expectation we have for the environments of short and long GRBs,” said Nugent, who performed crucial modeling of the host galaxy. “While long GRBs are never found in galaxies as old and dead as GRB 191019A’s host, short GRBs, with their merger origins, have not been observed to be so connected to their hosts’ nuclei. The discovery of this event in the core of its old, quiescent galaxy opens the door to promising new avenues for the formation of binary systems that have rarely been observed before.”

It is possible that such events occur routinely in similarly crowded regions across the universe but have gone unnoticed until this point. A possible reason for their obscurity is that galactic centers are brimming with dust and gas, which could obscure both the initial flash of the GRB and the resulting afterglow. GRB 191019A may be a rare exception, allowing astronomers to detect the burst and study its aftereffects.

“While this event is the first of its kind to be discovered, it’s possible there are more out there that are hidden by the large amounts of dust close to their galaxies,” Fong said. “Indeed, if this long-duration event came from merging compact objects, it contributes to the growing population of GRBs that defies our traditional classifications.”

By working to discover more of these events, the researchers hope to match a GRB detection with a corresponding gravitational-wave detection, which would reveal more about their true nature and confirm their origins — even in the murkiest of environments. The Vera C. Rubin Observatory, when it comes online in 2025, will be invaluable in this kind of research.

Reference: “A long-duration gamma-ray burst of dynamical origin from the nucleus of an ancient galaxy” by Andrew J. Levan, Daniele B. Malesani, Benjamin P. Gompertz, Anya E. Nugent, Matt Nicholl, Samantha R. Oates, Daniel A. Perley, Jillian Rastinejad, Brian D. Metzger, Steve Schulze, Elizabeth R. Stanway, Anne Inkenhaag, Tayyaba Zafar, J. Feliciano Agüí Fernández, Ashley A. Chrimes, Kornpob Bhirombhakdi, Antonio de Ugarte Postigo, Wen-fai Fong, Andrew S. Fruchter, Giacomo Fragione, Johan P. U. Fynbo, Nicola Gaspari, Kasper E. Heintz, Jens Hjorth, Pall Jakobsson, Peter G. Jonker, Gavin P. Lamb, Ilya Mandel, Soheb Mandhai, Maria E. Ravasio, Jesper Sollerman and Nial R. Tanvir, 22 June 2023, Nature Astronomy.
DOI: 10.1038/s41550-023-01998-8

>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : SciTechDaily – https://scitechdaily.com/a-new-way-to-annihilate-a-star-stellar-demolition-derby-near-black-hole-in-ancient-galaxy/

Tags: AnnihilatescienceStellar
Previous Post

Computer Scientists Inch Closer to Major Algorithmic Goal

Next Post

Biodegradable but Dangerous: The Hidden Environmental Hazards of Sugar Cane Plastic

Reeves to Announce £86 Billion for Science and Technology in Spending Review – Bloomberg

Reeves Set to Unveil Groundbreaking £86 Billion Investment in Science and Technology!

June 8, 2025
Shotgun sequencing of airborne eDNA achieves rapid assessment of whole biomes, population genetics and genomic variation – Nature

Revolutionizing Biodiversity: Rapid Insights into Ecosystems and Genetic Diversity Through Shotgun Sequencing of Airborne eDNA

June 8, 2025
Earth’s energy balance is rising much faster than scientists predicted, and we have no idea why – Live Science

Unraveling the Mystery: Earth’s Energy Balance is Surging Faster Than Expected!

June 8, 2025
The Undermining of Science — and Society — Continues – UExpress

How the Erosion of Science is Impacting Our Society

June 8, 2025
10 habits that secretly ‘kill’ your happy hormones – Times of India

10 Surprising Habits That Sabotage Your Happy Hormones

June 8, 2025
A GPS Blackout Would Shut Down the World – WIRED

How a GPS Blackout Could Bring the World to a Standstill

June 8, 2025
Six Steps To Ruin a Country’s Image, Economy, and Global Standing | Opinion – Newsweek

Six Surefire Ways to Dismantle a Nation’s Reputation and Prosperity

June 8, 2025
Middle Eastern Entertainment Headlines at 5:49 a.m. GMT – Yahoo

Exciting Updates from the Middle Eastern Entertainment Scene!

June 8, 2025
Omada shares rise 21% in Nasdaq debut after health tech company’s IPO – CNBC

Omada Soars 21% in Thrilling Nasdaq Debut Following Successful IPO!

June 8, 2025
Politics-Based Investing Sounds Smart. But These Strategies Work Better. – Barron’s

Politics-Based Investing Sounds Smart. But These Strategies Work Better. – Barron’s

June 8, 2025

Categories

Archives

June 2025
MTWTFSS
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
30 
« May    
Earth-News.info

The Earth News is an independent English-language daily published Website from all around the World News

Browse by Category

  • Business (20,132)
  • Ecology (677)
  • Economy (690)
  • Entertainment (21,596)
  • General (15,271)
  • Health (9,732)
  • Lifestyle (694)
  • News (22,149)
  • People (691)
  • Politics (698)
  • Science (15,909)
  • Sports (21,193)
  • Technology (15,677)
  • World (675)

Recent News

Reeves to Announce £86 Billion for Science and Technology in Spending Review – Bloomberg

Reeves Set to Unveil Groundbreaking £86 Billion Investment in Science and Technology!

June 8, 2025
Shotgun sequencing of airborne eDNA achieves rapid assessment of whole biomes, population genetics and genomic variation – Nature

Revolutionizing Biodiversity: Rapid Insights into Ecosystems and Genetic Diversity Through Shotgun Sequencing of Airborne eDNA

June 8, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

Go to mobile version