There are two kinds of supernovae, type I and type II. The first type takes place in a binary star system, where two stars are gravitationally bound by each other, one being a white dwarf. The white dwarf gathers matter from its buddy star and ultimately takes off, leaving absolutely nothing behind. The 2nd type takes place when a star with enough mass, approximated to be in the variety of eight to fifteen solar masses, lacks nuclear fuel and its core collapses. The rebound from the collapse triggers its external layers to broaden outside, leaving behind a neutron star or black hole.
The most energetic surges in the Universe come from stars called supernovae. After they detonate, the only thing left behind is either a neutron star or black hole.
Now, a team of astronomers just recently discovered a brand-new kind of stellar surge comparable to supernovae and novae but with much less energy, and theyre calling it a micronova.
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A nova also occurs on a white dwarf star in a binary star system and when adequate material gathers on the surface area of the star, a fusion reaction takes place triggering an explosion that swallows up the entire surface. This blast gives off as much energy as our sun releases in 10,000 years.
Novae taking place on white overshadows in a binary star system cover the whole stars surface. While the newly found micronovae are caused by the very same thing, these explosions take place when the material accreted onto the white dwarf from its buddy accumulates at its magnetic poles. Novae can last for a number of weeks, but micronovae last just a few hours.
Artists impression of a micronova Credit: ESO
While taking a look at information gathered from NASAs Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), the astronomers “found something unusual: an intense flash of optical light lasting for a few hours. Searching even more, we found several similar signals,” said Nathalie Degenaar, co-author of the paper recently released in the journal Nature (quoted from source).
They spotted 3 micronovae with this data. Using the European Southern Observatorys Very Large Telescope (VLT) they were able to validate one of the stars status as a white dwarf; the other 2 were understood white overshadows.
The regularity seems to be connected in to the amount of mass the white dwarf collects over a set amount of time. “The faster repeating system has a much greater mass accretion rate than the other system.”
Continuing, Scaringi states “It might be that a particular system will show the (recurring) micronovae events only when the product being funneled on to the magnetic poles can stay restricted for enough time to reach thermonuclear triggering conditions. In some celebrations this may not happen, and material will (uniformly) spread around the whole white dwarf surface, potentially building a layer of fresh hydrogen that may grow gradually and drive a classical nova.”
“” These events might actually be rather typical, however because they are so fast they are challenging to catch in action,” Scaringi explains” (source). In order to respond to these questions the group wants to find more of these micronovae outbursts and are looking forward to utilizing information from large-scale studies integrated with quick reaction observations from telescopes like the VLT or ESOs New Technology Telescope.
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The most energetic explosions in the Universe come from stars called supernovae. The first type occurs in a binary star system, where 2 stars are gravitationally bound by each other, one being a white dwarf. The white dwarf gathers matter from its companion star and ultimately explodes, leaving absolutely nothing behind. The second type happens when a star with sufficient mass, estimated to be in the variety of eight to fifteen solar masses, runs out of nuclear fuel and its core collapses. Novae happening on white dwarfs in a binary star system cover the entire stars surface.
Header: This artists impression shows a two-star system, with a white dwarf (in the foreground) and a buddy star (in the background), where micronovae might happen. Credit: Mark Garlick
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