A pulsar yields strange infrared light and we do not know why Smart News

Neutron stars are already considered among the most unique objects in the universe, but the Hubble Space Telescope has found one that is even stranger: it emits a strange, swirling display of infrared light.

Neutron stars are explosive star remains, or supernovae, which form 1.4 times the mass of our own sun in a body of about 12.4 miles in diameter. They are so dense, one teaspoon would weigh one billion tons, according to Space.com. When they spin fast enough and emit high-energy electromagnetic radiation, like X-rays, they are called pulsars.

The neutron star in question calls RX J0806.4-4123 and seems to emit a lot of infrared light, which could give us new information about the shape of the pulsars, reports Yasemin Saplakoglu at LiveScience. RX is one of seven X-ray pulsars within 3,300 light-years of Earth that astronomers call "the Seven Wonders". These seven stars are hotter than astronomers because of their age and available energy. An international team of astronomers was reviewing Hubble 's data when they noticed that the area around RX was rejecting a lot of infrared energy.

"We have observed an extended infrared emission zone around this neutron star … whose total size translates into about 200 astronomical units (about 18 billion kilometers) at the supposed distance of the pulsar," says Bettina Posselt, from Pennsylvania State. paper The astrophysical journal.

This is the first time that such a large infrared signal has been observed around a pulsar, and this suggests that something more is happening around the small, dense star. "The emission is much higher than that emitted by the neutron star – it does not come only from the neutron star," says Posselt. Ryan F. Mandelbaum to Gizmodo. "It's very new."

So, if the infrared does not come from the neutron star itself, where does all the energy come from? The researchers can not say for sure, but they have some good assumptions.

The first suggestion is that the infrared comes from a fallback disk, or from a large disk of dust that formed around the neutron star after its explosion. supernova. Posselt tells Saplakoglu to LiveScience researchers have speculated that these discs exist, but have never actually found them. The inner part of the disc would have enough energy to produce infrared light. This would also explain why the RX is warmer and slower than expected, as the disc could have added extra heating to the star and slowed its rotation.

"If confirmed as a supernova rescue disk, this result could change our general understanding of the evolution of neutron stars," says Posselt in a NASA press release.

The other possible explanation is a phenomenon called pulsar nebula.

Posselt explains in a Press release:

A pulsating wind nebula would require the neutron star to have a pulsar wind. A pulsar wind can be produced when the particles are accelerated in the electric field produced by the rapid rotation of a neutron star with a strong magnetic field. As the neutron star passes through the interstellar medium being faster than the speed of sound, a shock can occur where the interstellar medium and the pulsar wind interact. The shocked particles would then emit a synchrotron emission, causing the prolonged infrared emission we see. As a general rule, pulsar wind nebulae are observed on X-rays and an all-infrared pulsar wind nebula would be very unusual and exciting.

Mandelbaum to Gizmodo points out that it is possible but unlikely that the infrared radiation comes from a source located somewhere behind the pulsar. To find out, researchers simply have to wait. If the source is associated with the star, she will move with her as she wanders in the sky. If it's behind, the pulsar will eventually lose its infrared radiation.

And if the source turns out to be a fallback disk or a pulsating wind nebula, researchers will also have to wait to learn more. The researchers tried to see the RX with powerful Earth-based telescopes to see the disk or dust around it, but it was too weak. Instead, they will have to wait until the late launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, Hubble's successor, who should be able to image the source and reveal whether there is a disk or nebula around the star.

Like this article?
S & # 39; REGISTER for our newsletter