Written by New York Times |
June 26, 2011 12:41:57 am
June 26, 2011 12:41:57 am
SINDYA N. BHANOO
In what sounds like a one of a kind murder mystery,a dying star has fallen into a black hole and been ripped apart.
The event,which was observed on March 28,was originally thought to be a gamma ray burst from a collapsing star,but researchers suspected something more sinister was at play. Their findings appear in a pair of papers published online by the journal Science.
Subscriber Only Stories
Traditional gamma ray bursts involve a deluge of high-energy photons bursting through space. They generally result from the explosion of a star or when two objects collide. In this case the burst was unusually long,said Joshua Bloom,an associate professor of astronomy at Berkeley and the first author of one of the studies.
The burst also came from the centre of a galaxy four billion light years away. Most galaxies are thought to have black holes at their center,a clue that tipped off Dr Bloom and his colleagues. Astronomers are not so different from real estate agentslocation,location,location, he said. This picture had emerged for me and I saw that this was a black hole swallowing up a star.
The team used data gathered by the Swift Gamma Burst Mission,the Hubble Space Telescope and the Chandra X-ray Observatory to confirm their theory. They also studied historical data to look for similar events involving the same black hole,but they found no other occurrences. This is a singular event in the history of mankind, Bloom said. This black hole was otherwise sitting dormant,a star got too close,its gas got ripped apart and in doing so some of it got spit up.
There are still a number of unanswered questions that the researchers are exploring,like how large the star was in comparison to the sun,how close it got to the black hole and role of the holes spin in the event.
First published on: 26-06-2011 at 12:41:57 am
Subscriber Reading Now
Most Popular
Latest News
Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis In Children: Everything You Need To Know
10 Questions to Consider When Buying Term Life Insurance
LPU Graduate Gets 3 Crore Package
The Magic of Breastfeeding: When A Child Is Breastfed
Long story article page
3 Important Tips To Avail Instant Pre-Approved Personal Loan
UPSC CSE 2021 | IAS Toppers from Rau’s IAS share their coaching experience
Livspace Reviews: A One-Stop Shop for Home Interior Needs
Online Registration open for SAKSHAM CASH REWARD EXAM 2022
Test Long Para Content Article
JK Cement’s Sir Padampat Singhania University, Udaipur reveals new Approach
Sleep concerns in children: What you need to know
Concentrate on production of clean energy: Abdul Kalam
Best are not becoming judges: Arun Jaitley
Re-Defining The Tradition In Folk Art: An Art Educator’s Perspective
