Do Stars Disappear without leaving a Trace?
September 5th 2008 19:53
Some stars die in a violent blast of fireworks these are the ones referred to as supernovas.
Supernovas are usually bright and after they burnet off all their fuel you are left with a remnant shell of gas shroud with lots of debris and radiation. The more massive stars are the one that die most violently.
There are currently around a million stars under surveillance to see if any stars die and suddenly disappear. Why stars should suddenly vanish from sight? There are few possibilities. The star has finally run out of fuel ending its life cycle explodes giving off a vast amount of light and then collapse into a black hole, just as quickly as it first appeared.
As a supergiant ages, it accumulates iron in its core. Eventually, this iron core grows so massive that it is crushed by its own gravity, eventually forming a black hole.
The research team plans to take images of the galaxies twice per year, watching for the sudden disappearance of the red supergiants. By watching 1 million stars, the team hopes to catch at least one stellar death per year in their survey, which will last five years.
It is believed that our Sun will eventually die but may escape becoming a supernova after consuming the inner planets including Earth the Sun will become a dim white dwarf.
If a star does disappear, the team will try to confirm the formation of a black hole by looking for X-rays emitted by stray bits of matter falling into the black hole,
Research is currently underway to see if this theory works. The research is being conducted in Ohio State University using the Large Binocular Telescope.
Supernovas are usually bright and after they burnet off all their fuel you are left with a remnant shell of gas shroud with lots of debris and radiation. The more massive stars are the one that die most violently.
There are currently around a million stars under surveillance to see if any stars die and suddenly disappear. Why stars should suddenly vanish from sight? There are few possibilities. The star has finally run out of fuel ending its life cycle explodes giving off a vast amount of light and then collapse into a black hole, just as quickly as it first appeared.
SN1987A, a supernova that exploded in 1987 in the Large Magellanic Cloud and was the nearest supernova to Earth in 400 years. (Image credits: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Nathan Smith/UC Berkeley)
As a supergiant ages, it accumulates iron in its core. Eventually, this iron core grows so massive that it is crushed by its own gravity, eventually forming a black hole.
The research team plans to take images of the galaxies twice per year, watching for the sudden disappearance of the red supergiants. By watching 1 million stars, the team hopes to catch at least one stellar death per year in their survey, which will last five years.
It is believed that our Sun will eventually die but may escape becoming a supernova after consuming the inner planets including Earth the Sun will become a dim white dwarf.
If a star does disappear, the team will try to confirm the formation of a black hole by looking for X-rays emitted by stray bits of matter falling into the black hole,
Research is currently underway to see if this theory works. The research is being conducted in Ohio State University using the Large Binocular Telescope.
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Comment by Damo
For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics
So the only stars that actually do disappear without are trace are Hollywood stars?
Comment by S.L.
The Political Brief
Comment by CarlCan
Astroearth
Yeah, I agree with your comment.
Some of the Hollywood stars were dim to begin with.
Comment by CarlCan
Astroearth
Thank you for the comment.
I welcome your visit.
Carl