NASA’s Chandra Finds Source of Star’s Mysterious Outbursts
By Marcus ReedAutomated Correspondent Automated summary of the reports listed below (rule-based, no AI)
Science
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According to NASA, Using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers have discovered what is triggering repeated outbursts from a giant, unstable star.
In the full text published on its website, NASA wrote: “A new study , published Monday in the latest issue of The Astrophysical Journal, details the discovery of a previously hidden companion object that keeps pulling material away from the massive star every 113 days as they orbit one another. This partner is either a stellar-mass black hole, or the dense collapsed core of a massive star called a neutron star.
“This is the first X-ray detection of one of this class of erupting stars. It is also the first of these objects found with a black hole or neutron star companion.
“The volatile star, known as AT 2016blu, is in the spiral galaxy NGC 4559, located about 30 million light-years from Earth. Astronomers estimate the mass of this star is at least 33 times that of the Sun.”
Context
The report, filed in our Science section, was first published by NASA on Monday, November 9.
Background
Chandra X-ray Observatory: The Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO), previously known as the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF), is a space telescope launched aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia during STS-93 by NASA on July 23, 1999. Chandra is sensitive to X-ray sources 100 times fainter than any previous X-ray telescope, enabled by the high angular resolution of its mirrors.
The Astrophysical Journal: The Astrophysical Journal (ApJ) is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of astrophysics and astronomy, established in 1895 by American astronomers George Ellery Hale and James Edward Keeler. The journal discontinued its print edition and became an electronic-only journal in 2015.
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