They discover the micronova, the “little sister” of the supernova.

An international team of scientists has discovered a new type star formation: micronova. As the name suggests, this is a small nova. Nova – the result of the stars white dwarfs in which an explosive process of nuclear fusion took place, igniting its entire surface weeks. If the process is particularly bright, it is known as supernova. And on the opposite side are now micron.

In his case, such a luminous explosion does not occur on the entire surface, but only in the magnetic poles of a star. Besides, it doesn’t last for weeks, but only several hours. For this reason, it is believed that there must be many microns in the Universe, but so far they have not been observed due to their short duration.

In fact, an example of its abundance is that the authors of a study that has just been published in Nature They found no more, no less than three. This would not have been possible without the collaboration of two great tools: NASA Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and Very Large Telescope (VLT) X-shooter of the European Southern Observatory (ESO). The combination of both helped find these three, and it is possible that they will soon find many more. But let’s see what is known about microns so far.

Various dimensions new

In November 1572, a Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe he first coined the term “nova” by observing something in the sky that to him was New star re-established in the sky.

That was all that could be learned with the technology available at the time. However, over time, other astronomers have confirmed that it is in fact not a new star. Novae are formed in binary systems consists of at least one white dwarf; that is, a very dense dead star with a mass close to that of our Sun, but as small as the Earth. In this system, the white dwarf tends to steal material from its companion star, usually hydrogen. When it falls on the hot surface of a white dwarf, a process occurs fusion between hydrogen atomsto give rise to atoms helium. This is a very explosive phenomenon that ignites the entire surface of the star during weeks.

This ignition was what Tycho Brahe saw. For him, a new light in the sky meant a new star, but in fact he had been there a long time ago. Despite this, the name nova was retained and the name supernova for the brightest explosions. In fact, what the Danish astronomer saw was what is now known as a supernova.

As for microns, their discovery is similar to that of Tycho Brahe, but with some much more advanced technology. His managers were watching the astronomical data collected by TESS when they discovered an unusual burst of optical light that lasted several hours. They decided to keep excavating and found at least two more. The first two originated from known white dwarfs, and further investigation, this time with the VLT x-shooter, showed that the third did too. They may have been new, but they had some features unrelated to this type of explosion. And that’s what made them realize they were facing something new: micron.

Characteristics of the micron

Microns cannot occur on any white dwarf. They occur only in places with a strong magnetic field, due to which the material Stolen companion stars heading towards its poles. This is where explosions and flashes occur, much shorter.

But don’t let the title fool us. This is not a low-energy nova. The prefix micro is used because the entire surface of the stars is not covered and, moreover, the process is shorter. However, they are so energetic that, as the authors of the study explain in a statement, they could burn 3.5 billion pyramids of Giza In a few hours. It is strange that they chose this monument instead of football fields or Olympic swimming pools, but it is not for us to judge them.

What is clear is that it was a great discovery that added a new type of explosion to the list broken by this explosion. new a star that Tycho Brahe noticed in the sky. Everything is. see more Only we need tools that can take us far beyond our eyes.