Spectacular Gamma Radiation From Collapse Of Dying Star Could Change Understanding Of The Universe
A team of scientists in Namibia, in southwest Africa, has recorded a phenomenal cosmic explosion, the brightest so far, of gamma radiation from a collapsing star. They said usually these explosions occur when a massive star — five or 10 times the mass of the Sun – abruptly detonates and turns into a black hole. The scientists said the gamma-ray burst (GRB) was one of the most energetic radiations and longest gamma-ray afterglow to date. It was also one of the nearest GRBs recorded so far from the Earth, at a distance of about one billion light-years. For comparison: the typical GRB happens about 20 billion light-years away.
This observation has challenged the established theory of gamma-ray bursts in the universe, the team of scientists said. Also, this comparative proximity of the event meant that the scientists could see the “colours” of the radiation.
The scientists could follow the afterglow for up to three days after the initial explosion. The result was a surprise, they noted in the research paper published in Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY). According to the DESY website, its research centre is one of the world’s leading facilities for particle acceleration. It is part of the Helmholtz Association, Germany’s largest scientific organisation.
“Our observations revealed curious similarities between the X-ray and very-high-energy gamma-ray emission of the burst’s afterglow,” said Sylvia Zhu, one of the authors of the paper.
Established theories assume that the two emission components must be produced by separate mechanisms. The event was captured by the High Energy Stereoscopic System (HESS) on August 29, 2019, after the Fermi and Swift satellites detected a burst of radiation in the constellation of Eridanus, according to the DESY research centre.
DESY has also released a video explainer on YouTube simulating the cosmic event. Watch it below:
The video shows a massive dying star collapsing and a neutron star or black hole forming. Then relativistic jets break out from the star and a supernova is produced. Some matter then scatters on magnetic fields around the blast wave and is accelerated. Roughly 900 million years later, radiation from this gamma-ray burst arrives at Earth and satellites and telescopes such as the HESS detect it. Gamma-ray bursts may also occur when two super-dense stellar corpses called neutron stars collide.
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United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Vulcan Centaur rocket is all set for its second launch on Friday, 4th October 2024, at 6 a.m. EDT (10:00 GMT) from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. This launch, called Cert-2, is a crucial step toward certifying the rocket for use by the U.S. Space Force.
Launch Readiness Review Successfully Completed
The launch readiness review, held on 2nd October, went smoothly, with ULA leadership and Space Force officials confirming the readiness of the rocket and payload. Weather conditions are predicted to be favourable, with a 75% chance of meeting launch conditions.
Payload and Objectives of Cert-2
Cert-2 is primarily a test flight and will carry a mass simulator and additional instrumentation to assess the rocket’s performance. Although Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser space plane was initially planned for this mission, it wasn’t ready in time, so a replacement payload is being used.
Future Plans for the Vulcan Centaur Rocket
The launch is part of ULA’s efforts to secure the rocket for future national security missions, with plans for more flights before the year ends. If the Cert-2 flight goes as planned, ULA’s Vulcan Centaur could become a workhorse for missions in 2025, with 10 launches already scheduled alongside Atlas V missions.
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A recent study by astrophysicists suggests that advanced alien civilisations might only have a thousand years before their planets become uninhabitable due to climate change. This alarming finding stems from simulations exploring the trajectory of technological growth and energy consumption of these hypothetical societies. Even those relying on renewable energy could face dire consequences, as any increase in energy production inevitably leads to heat generation that the planet cannot support. This research has been shared on the preprint server arXiv and is currently awaiting peer review.
Comparisons to Human Energy Consumption
The study’s lead authors, Manasvi Lingam, an astrophysicist at Florida Tech, and Amedeo Balbi, an associate professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Tor Vergata University of Rome, are drawing parallels between human energy consumption and the potential fate of extraterrestrial societies. Since the 1800s, human energy use has surged dramatically, with 2023 estimates indicating approximately 180,000 terawatt hours (TWh) consumed. This level of energy consumption, primarily from fossil fuels, has escalated global temperatures at an unsustainable rate. Even a shift to renewable sources would not halt this growth and would still result in increased energy demands.
The Role of Thermodynamics in Planetary Health
The second law of thermodynamics plays a crucial role in understanding this phenomenon. It posits that no energy system is perfect, meaning some energy is always lost in the form of heat. Lingam uses the analogy of a leaky bathtub to illustrate how, as a society grows, even a small leak can lead to catastrophic outcomes when the bathtub becomes overfilled.
Challenges for Astrobiology and the Search for Life
The implications of this study extend beyond the survival of alien life; they also pose significant challenges for astrobiologists in their quest to find intelligent life beyond Earth. With such a short window for survival, the study indicates that many potential civilisations may self-destruct long before they could be detected.
A Sustainable Path Forward for Civilisations
Lingam emphasises that there is an alternative. Civilisations could opt for a balanced growth approach, allowing them to coexist sustainably with their environments, potentially enabling survival for millennia.
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