Posted on 11/20/2018 9:12:23 AM PST by ETL
Full title:
It's one of a pair of stars that could be involved in one of the universe's biggest explosions, experts suggest.
Scientists say the previously unknown star system is wrapped in an "elegant spiral dust cloud", making it look "spectacular".
At its heart is a pair of massive Wolf-Rayet stars, according to an international team of researchers who published the findings in the Nature Astronomy journal.
Wolf-Rayet stars are special in that they're among the hottest in the universe.
They blast out powerful winds of hot gas, and represent the last stage of most massive stars – before "exploding as a supernova".
The star system is believed to be located around 8,000 light years away from Earth.
That's roughly half a billion times farther than our own Sun.
According to scientists, the winds between the two stars form dust.
As the stars orbit each other, this dust takes on "elegant spiral pinwheel shapes".
"It remains a mystery how dust – similar to soot from a candle – forms in such harsh environments," said Professor Paul Crowther, of the University of Sheffield, who was involved in the study.
"But this newly discovered system is the most beautiful case seen to date."
The system was found using the Very Large Telescope in Chile and Anglo-Australia Telescope in Australia.
And it was photographed at the European Southern Observatory in stunning detail.
Experts discovered that the star system is producing "incredibly fast" winds that are 100,000 times quicker than a hurricane on Earth.
This wind speed is typical for a Wolf-Rayet star.
But what's interesting is that researchers found that the dust cloud itself is more slower.
This difference between the speeds of wind and dust is important. It suggests that the stars are "spewing out faster gas" at the poles – and slower gas at the equator.
"One way for such different winds to happen is via critical rotation," said Dr Benjamin Pope, of New York University.
The star system is believed to be located around 8,000 light years away from Earth.
That's roughly half a billion times farther than our own Sun.
According to scientists, the winds between the two stars form dust.
As the stars orbit each other, this dust takes on "elegant spiral pinwheel shapes".
"It remains a mystery how dust – similar to soot from a candle – forms in such harsh environments," said Professor Paul Crowther, of the University of Sheffield, who was involved in the study.
"But this newly discovered system is the most beautiful case seen to date."
The system was found using the Very Large Telescope in Chile and Anglo-Australia Telescope in Australia.
And it was photographed at the European Southern Observatory in stunning detail.
Experts discovered that the star system is producing "incredibly fast" winds that are 100,000 times quicker than a hurricane on Earth.
This wind speed is typical for a Wolf-Rayet star.
But what's interesting is that researchers found that the dust cloud itself is more slower.
This difference between the speeds of wind and dust is important. It suggests that the stars are "spewing out faster gas" at the poles – and slower gas at the equator.
"One way for such different winds to happen is via critical rotation," said Dr Benjamin Pope, of New York University.
BUD LIGHT FOR EVERYBODY!........................
OK, I’ll admit that’s very athletic, but they’ve taken something that used to be beautiful and elegant and turned it into a freak show.
That makes me dizzy just watching her spin.
Makes me wonder if some figure skaters don’t have some form of brain damage or inner ear defects due to the extreme spinning.
Of course. Funny, but when you think of things this way, the light from our sun - from the day we were born, won't reach a place that far away until long after our lives on Earth have finished.
Dilly! Dilly!
“Stars spewing out gas 100,000 times quicker than a hurricane on Earth.”
De Niro, Carrey, Streisand, Baldwin...and so many others too innumerable to count.
lol
before “exploding as a supernova”....
I had a few novas in the 80s.
Some were good but none were super.
I also paid about 200 bucks for each, used.
It would have been easy to cut your excerpt in half.
That is much badder grammar.
And what, pray tell, is minimum safe distance for a supernova?
Well played @dp0622 !! IIRC, you upgraded to a Challenger, right? Awesome car.
I was just thinking that looks kinda like the Ultrasound of the New Grandson.
If it blew up yesterday or tomorrow and the debris & cosmic rays traveled at the speed of light (Highly unlikely - trust me ;-) it wouldn't get here for 8,000 years.
Relax. Worry more about HRC being elected president in 2020 even if she's encased in a glass coffin.
The shock wave is going to be massive when it hits us in 7000 years.
Gamma rays travel at the speed of light, so if this thing blows and we see it and it is aimed in our direction, blammo!
It's one of a pair of stars that could be involved in one of the universe's biggest explosions, experts suggest.
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As the stars orbit each other, this dust takes on "elegant spiral pinwheel shapes".
"It remains a mystery how dust – similar to soot from a candle – forms in such harsh environments," said Professor Paul Crowther, of the University of Sheffield, who was involved in the study.
"But this newly discovered system is the most beautiful case seen to date."
I love these visuals (signs from heaven). What is old is new again.
Genesis 26:4 And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; [Isaac]
Genesis 28:14 And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. [Jacob]
Nighttime dust-ups:
Genesis 32
24 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.
26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
It's one of a pair of stars that could be involved in one of the universe's biggest explosions, experts suggest.
Jacob + Esav, the ultimate family reunion of miraculous proportions.. the bigger the dream, the bigger the miracle:
Isaiah 11:6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.
"But this newly discovered system is the most beautiful case seen to date."
"Wolf-Rayet stars":
כוכבי וולף-ראייה
Beautiful (It's an important link to the mother of all Israel.)
I'll be vindicated. After all, the Hebrew spelling for Rayet is this:
Visual perception is the ability to interpret the surrounding environment using light in the visible spectrum reflected by the objects in the environment. This is different from visual acuity which refers to how clearly a person sees (for example "20/20 vision"). A person can have problem with visual perceptual processing even if he/she has 20/20 vision.
The resulting perception is also known as visual perception, eyesight, sight, or vision (adjectival form: visual, optical, or ocular). The various physiological components involved in vision are referred to collectively as the visual system, and are the focus of much research in linguistics, psychology, cognitive science, neuroscience, and molecular biology, collectively referred to as vision science.
It pays to be observant!
Whirling stars make for a "new constellation". Secrets of the universe-level stuff. You saw it here first. :)
(Off to the big search engine in the sky this post goes.)
You worried?
Me neither.
Next article.
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