快猫短视频s have finally figured out what is at the centre of a nearby supernova. Supernova 1987A is the first stellar explosion that we have been able to track in detail since it began, and now we know that it left behind a hot neutron star.
There are two possible objects that can be left behind after a star explodes in a supernova: a neutron star, which is a dense stellar corpse made up of primarily neutrons, and a black hole. Observations from shortly after supernova 1987A blew up hinted that it created a neutron star, but often, as more material rains down onto a neutron star, it can collapse into a black hole. Researchers were not sure whether that happened in this case.
Now the dust from the explosion is beginning to clear, so we can see deeper into what is left over from the supernova. at University College London and his colleagues used the James Webb Space Telescope to examine those remains.
Advertisement
They set out to find a brightening of the dust at the centre of the supernova, which would indicate that it is being heated by a neutron star. Instead, they found a telltale pattern in the observed emission lines, a series of wavelengths of light at which the supernova was particularly bright.
鈥淚t鈥檚 one of those lucky accidents,鈥� says Barlow. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 find that increase in brightness in the dust emission, but we did find this line emission, which was unexpected but a much more direct piece of evidence.鈥�
The particular wavelengths of bright light and the areas they shine from within the supernova indicate that they are caused by powerful radiation from the centre of the remnants. 鈥淚t鈥檚 got to be radiation from a hot source, and the only possible hot source is a neutron star,鈥� says Barlow. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the first smoking gun for the neutron star.鈥�
As the dust continues to clear, we will be able to observe supernova 1987A in even more detail. These observations should also provide a window into the mechanisms at the hearts of other supernovae.
Science
