Scientists Observe Supernova Explosion , That Pushed Particles , to Cosmic Speed Limit.
Scientists have observed a burned-out stellar core produce a shockwave that propelled particles at the boundary of their theoretical speed limit.
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Space.com reports that astronomers utilized the gamma-ray observatory in Namibia called the High Energy Stereoscopic System, otherwise known as HESS.
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Observations were based on a two-star system known as Ophiuchi.
The binary system consists of a white dwarf paired with a red giant.
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The white dwarf is the stellar remains of a dead star that is roughly the size of Earth.
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The red giant is a dying star that long ago resembled our own sun.
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The white dwarf draws matter off of the red giant until it has absorbed enough to generate a massive supernova explosion.
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When the nova exploded in August 2021, the HESS telescopes allowed us to observe a galactic explosion in very-high-energy gamma rays for the first time, Alison Mitchell, principal investigator and researcher at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, via Space.com.
Particles from the latest supernova explosion reached the maximum speed predicted in theoretical models.
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The observation that the theoretical limit for particle acceleration can actually be reached in genuine cosmic shock waves has enormous implications for astrophysics, Ruslan Konno, study co-author and a doctoral candidate at Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, via Space.com.
It suggests that the acceleration process could be just as efficient in their much more extreme relatives, supernovas, Ruslan Konno, study co-author and a doctoral candidate at Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, via Space.com.
It suggests that the acceleration process could be just as efficient in their much more extreme relatives, supernovas, Ruslan Konno, study co-author and a doctoral candidate at Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, via Space.com
