| Topic: |
Science > Physics |
| User: |
"Sam Wormley" |
| Date: |
09 Apr 2006 07:46:32 PM |
| Object: |
Stellar Stomach Trouble |
Stellar Stomach Trouble
http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2006/407/2
Call it a chronic case of stellar indigestion. In a not-so-far-away
constellation, astronomers have witnessed a pair of stars so cramped
together that the regular explosions of one actually take place
inside the other. The findings are helping scientists to understand
both stellar evolution and the origins of certain types of
supernovas.
Over the past century or so, a faint star called RS Ophiuchi has
flared up brilliantly five times, most recently on 12 February. RS
Oph--as astronomers call it--is a binary system, comprising a white
dwarf (the super-dense core of a former star) in close orbit with a
much, much larger red giant. The two objects circle each another so
closely that the dwarf's intense gravity continually strips
hydrogen-rich gas from the outer layers of the red giant's
atmosphere. Every 20 years or so, the dwarf accumulates enough gas to
detonate a titanic thermonuclear explosion.
See: http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2006/407/2
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| User: "skidily-dobop-dabay" |
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| Title: Re: Stellar Stomach Trouble |
09 Apr 2006 10:36:09 PM |
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"Sam Wormley" <swormley1@mchsi.com> wrote in message
news:IVh_f.887404$x96.429602@attbi_s72...
Stellar Stomach Trouble
http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2006/407/2
Call it a chronic case of stellar indigestion. In a not-so-far-away
constellation, astronomers have witnessed a pair of stars so cramped
together that the regular explosions of one actually take place
inside the other. The findings are helping scientists to understand
both stellar evolution and the origins of certain types of
supernovas.
Over the past century or so, a faint star called RS Ophiuchi has
flared up brilliantly five times, most recently on 12 February. RS
Oph--as astronomers call it--is a binary system, comprising a white
dwarf (the super-dense core of a former star) in close orbit with a
much, much larger red giant. The two objects circle each another so
closely that the dwarf's intense gravity continually strips
hydrogen-rich gas from the outer layers of the red giant's
atmosphere. Every 20 years or so, the dwarf accumulates enough gas to
detonate a titanic thermonuclear explosion.
See: http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2006/407/2
Sounds more like stellar orgasm to me.
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| User: "robin_astro" |
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| Title: Re: Stellar Stomach Trouble |
10 Apr 2006 05:04:33 AM |
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Sam Wormley wrote:
Stellar Stomach Trouble
http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2006/407/2
Call it a chronic case of stellar indigestion. In a not-so-far-away
constellation, astronomers have witnessed a pair of stars so cramped
together that the regular explosions of one actually take place
inside the other. The findings are helping scientists to understand
both stellar evolution and the origins of certain types of
supernovas.
I've been following this one spectroscopically.
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/astro2/spectra_24.htm
Robin
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