Post by Andrei Tchentchik on Sept 3, 2020 15:19:03 GMT 2
(.#504).- A strange binary system.
A strange binary system.
Astronomers have discovered that a solar system containing two stars has two very different modes of operation over a 15-year period.
Posted on March 09, 2020 at 11:07 a.m.
MATHIEU PERREAULT
LA PRESSE
Terzan 5 CX1 is located 19,000 light years away, in the constellation Sagittarius. It is made up of a star comparable to our Sun and another much more massive, called "neutron star".
This duo is usually called "low mass x-ray binary". The neutron star attracts matter from the smaller star, which feeds the rotation of the neutron star.
The Chandra X-ray space telescope, launched in 1999, observed this traditional behavior of Terzan 5 CX1 in 2003. But between 2009 and 2014, this binary system behaved rather like a "millisecond pulsar", less brilliant and emitting radio waves in pulses to the rhythm of the rotation of the neutron star. These results were confirmed by a New Mexico telescope. In 2016, Terzan 5 CX1 returned to “low mass x-ray binary” mode.
Over the past five years, several studies have gradually elucidated the phenomenon, which have just been brought together by the American Astronomical Society. The explanation for Terzan 5 CX1's "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" behavior is that its neutron star at some point has so much mass that it spins several times per second. This has the effect of dispersing the matter it draws from its twin star, which has concentrated in a 15 km wide disc. This material is ejected like a millisecond pulsar.
Then, when the disc is gone, the neutron star slows down and begins to draw material from its twin star.
F I N .
A strange binary system.
Astronomers have discovered that a solar system containing two stars has two very different modes of operation over a 15-year period.
Posted on March 09, 2020 at 11:07 a.m.
MATHIEU PERREAULT
LA PRESSE
Terzan 5 CX1 is located 19,000 light years away, in the constellation Sagittarius. It is made up of a star comparable to our Sun and another much more massive, called "neutron star".
This duo is usually called "low mass x-ray binary". The neutron star attracts matter from the smaller star, which feeds the rotation of the neutron star.
The Chandra X-ray space telescope, launched in 1999, observed this traditional behavior of Terzan 5 CX1 in 2003. But between 2009 and 2014, this binary system behaved rather like a "millisecond pulsar", less brilliant and emitting radio waves in pulses to the rhythm of the rotation of the neutron star. These results were confirmed by a New Mexico telescope. In 2016, Terzan 5 CX1 returned to “low mass x-ray binary” mode.
Over the past five years, several studies have gradually elucidated the phenomenon, which have just been brought together by the American Astronomical Society. The explanation for Terzan 5 CX1's "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" behavior is that its neutron star at some point has so much mass that it spins several times per second. This has the effect of dispersing the matter it draws from its twin star, which has concentrated in a 15 km wide disc. This material is ejected like a millisecond pulsar.
Then, when the disc is gone, the neutron star slows down and begins to draw material from its twin star.
F I N .
