Some cosmic explosions are impostors: they look like supernovae, but the star survives and sometimes keeps erupting. The impostor AT 2016blu has flared roughly every 113 days for over a decade. Now astronomers, helped by amateur observers who timed the outburst, have caught it in X-rays for the first time, revealing the culprit: not a lone star erupting, but a hidden compact companion feeding on a giant star at each close passage. We explain the finding and what’s solid versus still open.
To access the full content, become a member by clicking the link below.
Compártelo:
Descubre más desde SKYCR.ORG
Suscríbete y recibe las últimas entradas en tu correo electrónico.
, helped by amateur astronomers who timed the outburst, used the Chandra X-ray Observatory to detect it in X-rays for the first time, favoring accretion onto a hidden compact companion (a neutron star or black hole) as the cause. The companion’s nature remains open.){kind=link}