A 3-gram (0.1 ounce) sample of the Hypatia stone. Scientists discovered a constant pattern of 15 elements in the Hypatia stone. The pattern is completely unlike anything in our planetary system or our solar neighborhood, in the Milky Way. Credit: Romano Serra
New chemistry forensics indicates that the stone named Hypatia from the Egyptian desert might be the first physical proof discovered in the world of a supernova type Ia surge. These unusual supernovas are a few of the most energetic events in the universe.
This is the conclusion of a brand-new research study by Jan Kramers, Georgy Belyanin, and Hartmut Winkler of the University of Johannesburg, and others that has been released in the journal Icarus.
Since 2013, Belyanin and Kramers have discovered a series of highly unusual chemistry hints in a small fragment of the Hypatia Stone.
Scientists found a consistent pattern of 15 components in the Hypatia stone. The Hypatia stone could be the first tangible evidence on Earth of a supernova Type Ia surge. UJ researchers found a consistent pattern of 15 components in the Hypatia stone discovered in Egypt. UJ scientists find that many of the elements they evaluated in the extraterrestrial Hypatia stone fit the predictions from supernova Ia models well. Various analyses of the Hypatia stone in Egypt suggest that it was not formed on Earth or inside our solar system.
In the new research study, they carefully eliminate cosmic suspects for the origin of the stone in a painstaking process. They have pieced together a timeline stretching back to the early phases of the formation of Earth, our Sun, and the other planets in our solar system.
A cosmic timeline
Their hypothesis about Hypatias origin begins with a star: A red giant star collapsed into a white dwarf star. The collapse would have taken place inside an enormous dust cloud, also called a nebula.
That white dwarf found itself in a binary system with a 2nd star. The white dwarf star ultimately ate the other star. At some point, the hungry white dwarf blew up as a supernova type Ia inside the dust cloud.
After cooling, the gas atoms which stayed of the supernova Ia started adhering to the particles of the dust cloud.
The tiny samples of the extraterrestrial Hypatia stone beside a small coin. Rare type Ia supernovas are a few of the most energetic events in deep space. Scientists discovered a constant pattern of 15 elements in the Hypatia stone. The pattern is totally unlike anything in our solar system or our solar neighborhood, the Milky Way. Prof Jan Kramers (University of Johannesburg) is the lead author. Credit: Jan Kramers
” In a sense we could state, we have caught a supernova Ia explosion in the act, since the gas atoms from the surge were captured in the surrounding dust cloud, which ultimately formed Hypatias parent body,” says Kramers.
A huge bubble of this supernova dust-and-gas-atoms mix never ever interacted with other dust clouds.
Millions of years would pass, and ultimately the bubble would slowly end up being strong, in a cosmic dust bunny type of way. Hypatias parent body would end up being a solid rock sometime in the early phases of development of our planetary system.
This procedure probably took place in a cold, uneventful outer part of our solar system– in the Oort cloud or in the Kuiper belt.
At some point, Hypatias parent rock started speeding towards Earth. The heat of entry into the earths atmosphere, combined with the pressure of effect in the Great Sand Sea in southwestern Egypt, created micro-diamonds and shattered the moms and dad rock.
The Hypatia stone got in the desert needs to be one of lots of fragments of the original impactor.
The Hypatia stone might be the very first tangible proof on Earth of a supernova Type Ia surge. UJ scientists discovered a consistent pattern of 15 components in the Hypatia stone discovered in Egypt. Most of the aspects match the pattern of supernova type Ia designs.
” If this hypothesis is right, the Hypatia stone would be the very first tangible evidence in the world of a supernova type Ia surge. Perhaps equally crucial, it reveals that a private anomalous parcel of dust from deep space might in fact be included in the solar nebula that our planetary system was formed from, without being fully blended in,” says Kramers.
” This breaks the conventional view that dust which our planetary system was formed from, was thoroughly combined.”
3 million volts for a tiny sample
To piece together the timeline of how Hypatia may have formed, the scientists used a number of methods to evaluate the strange stone.
In 2013, a research study of the argon isotopes revealed the rock was not formed on earth. It needed to be extraterrestrial. A 2015 study of worthy gases in the fragment showed that it might not be from any known kind of meteorite or comet.
A high-voltage proton beam shows 3 trace aspects in the extraterrestrial Hypatia stone, and their concentrations. Dr Georgy Belyanin (University of Johannesburg) utilized a 3-million Volt proton beam to analyse the tiny fragment of the stone.
In 2018 the UJ group published various analyses, that included the discovery of a mineral, nickel phosphide, not previously discovered in any things in our planetary system.
At that phase Hypatia was showing tough to examine even more. The trace metals Kramers and Belyanin were looking for, could not actually be seen in detail with the devices they had. They required a more effective instrument that would not ruin the small sample.
Kramers started analyzing a dataset that Belyanin had actually developed a few years prior to.
In 2015, Belyanin had done a series of analyses on a proton beam at the iThemba Labs in Somerset West. At the time, Dr. Wojciech Przybylowicz kept the three-million Volt maker humming along.
Searching for a pattern
” Rather than exploring all the incredible anomalies Hypatia provides, we wished to explore if there is a hidden unity. We desired to see if there is some sort of constant chemical pattern in the stone,” says Kramers
Belyanin thoroughly selected 17 targets on the small sample for analysis. All were selected to be well away from the earthly minerals that had formed in the fractures of the original rock after its impact in the desert.
” We recognized 15 different components in Hypatia with much greater accuracy and precision, with the proton microprobe. This offered us the chemical active ingredients we needed, so Jan could start the next procedure of examining all the information,” says Belyanin.
UJ researchers discover that the majority of the aspects they evaluated in the extraterrestrial Hypatia stone fit the forecasts from supernova Ia models well. The high-voltage proton beam data reveals that for 9 of the 15 aspects, concentrations are close to the anticipated values. Prof Jan Kramers (University of Johannesburg) is the lead author. Credit: Jan Kramers.
Proton beam likewise eliminates planetary system
The very first huge new hint from the proton beam analyses was the surprisingly low level of silicon in the Hypatia stone targets. The silicon, together with chromium and manganese, were less than 1% to be expected for something formed within our inner planetary system.
Further, high iron, high sulfur, high phosphorus, high copper, and high vanadium were noticeable and anomalous, includes Kramers.
” We discovered a constant pattern of micronutrient abundances that is entirely various from anything in the planetary system, primitive or progressed. Objects in the asteroid belt and meteors do not match this either. So next we looked outside the planetary system,” states Kramers.
Numerous analyses of the Hypatia stone in Egypt suggest that it was not formed on Earth or inside our solar system. A brand-new study reveals it might have preserved an unusual chemical pattern comparable to that from a supernova Ia explosion.
Not from our community
Then Kramers compared the Hypatia component concentration pattern with what one would anticipate to see in the dust between stars in our solar arm of the Milky Way galaxy.
” We aimed to see if the pattern we obtain from average interstellar dust in our arm of the Milky Way galaxy fits what we see in Hypatia. Once again, there was no similarity at all,” includes Kramers.
At this moment, the proton beam data had actually likewise eliminated four suspects of where Hypatia might have formed.
Hypatia did not form on earth, was not part of any recognized kind of comet or meteorite, did not form from average inner planetary system dust, and not from average interstellar dust either.
Not a red giant
The next simplest possible explanation for the component concentration pattern in Hypatia, would be a red giant star. Red huge stars prevail in deep space.
But the proton beam information dismissed mass outflow from a red giant star too: Hypatia had excessive iron, insufficient silicon, and too low concentrations of heavy elements much heavier than iron.
Nor a supernova Type II
The next think to consider was a supernova type II. Supernovas of type II formulate a great deal of iron. They are also a relatively typical kind of supernova.
Once again, the proton beam data for Hypatia ruled out an appealing suspect with chemistry forensics. A supernova type II was extremely not likely as the source of unusual minerals like nickel phosphide in the pebble. There was likewise too much iron in Hypatia compared to silicon and calcium.
It was time to closely analyze the anticipated chemistry of among the most significant explosions in the universe.
Heavy metal factory
Supernovas of the type Ia just take place once or two times per galaxy per century. Many of the steel on earth was as soon as the component iron created by Ia supernovas.
Also, established science says that some Ia supernovas leave really distinct forensic chemistry ideas behind. This is since of the method some Ia supernovas are set up.
A red giant star at the end of its life collapses into an extremely dense white dwarf star. White dwarf stars are generally exceptionally stable for extremely long periods and a lot of unlikely to blow up. There are exceptions to this.
A white dwarf star could start pulling matter off another star in a double star. One can state the white dwarf star consumes its companion star. Eventually, the white dwarf gets so heavy, hot, and unsteady, that it takes off in a supernova Ia.
The nuclear fusion throughout the supernova Ia surge ought to produce highly uncommon component concentration patterns, as accepted scientific theoretical models anticipate.
The white dwarf star that explodes in a supernova Ia is not simply blown to bits, however actually blown to atoms. The supernova Ia matter is delivered into area as gas atoms.
In a substantial literature search of star data and model results, the group might not identify any comparable or better chemical suitable for the Hypatia stone than a specific set of supernova Ia designs.
Forensic components evidence
” All supernova Ia data and theoretical models show much higher proportions of iron compared to silicon and calcium than supernova II models,” says Kramers.
” In this respect, the proton beam lab information on Hypatia fit to supernova Ia information and designs.”
Altogether, 8 of the 15 aspects analyzed comply with the forecasted ranges of proportions relative to iron. Those are the components silicon, sulfur, calcium, titanium, vanadium, chromium, manganese, nickel, and iron.
Not all 15 of the examined elements in Hypatia fit the forecasts though. In 6 of the 15 aspects, percentages were between 10 and 100 times greater than the ranges forecasted by theoretical models for supernovas of type 1A. These are the aspects aluminum, phosphorus, chlorine, zinc, potassium, and copper.
” Since a white dwarf star is formed from a passing away red giant, Hypatia might have inherited these element proportions for the 6 components from a red giant star. This phenomenon has actually been observed in white dwarf stars in other research study,” includes Kramers.
If this hypothesis is right, the Hypatia stone would be the very first concrete proof on Earth of a supernova type Ia surge, one of the most energetic events in the universe.
The Hypatia stone would be a hint of a cosmic story began throughout the early development of our planetary system, and be found many years later in a remote desert strewn with other pebbles.
Referral: “The chemistry of the extraterrestrial carbonaceous stone “Hypatia”: A viewpoint on dust heterogeneity in interstellar space” by Jan D. Kramers, Georgy A. Belyanin, Wojciech J. Przybylowicz, Hartmut Winkler and Marco A. G. Andreoli, 22 April 2022, Icarus.DOI: 10.1016/ j.icarus.2022.115043.