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Doomed star in Milky Way threatens rare gamma-ray burst
University of Sydney astronomers, working with international colleagues, have found a star system like none seen before in our galaxy.
The scientists believe one of the stars—about 8000 light years from Earth—is the first known candidate in the Milky Way to produce a dangerous gamma-ray burst, among the most energetic events in the universe, when it explodes and dies.
The system, comprising a pair of scorchingly luminous stars, was nicknamed Apep by the team after the serpentine Egyptian god of chaos. One star is on the brink of a massive supernova explosion.
The findings, published today in Nature Astronomy, are controversial as no gamma-ray burst has ever been detected within our own galaxy, the Milky Way.
[...] Dr. Joe Callingham, lead author of the study, said: "We discovered this star as an outlier in a survey with a radio telescope operated by the University of Sydney.
"We knew immediately we had found something quite exceptional: the luminosity across the spectrum from the radio to the infrared was off the charts," said Dr. Callingham, who is now at the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy.
"When we saw the stunning dust plume coiled around the these incandescent stars, we decided to name it 'Apep' - the monstrous serpent deity and mortal enemy of Sun god Ra from Egyptian mythology."
That sculpted plume is what makes the system so important, said Professor Peter Tuthill, research group leader at the University of Sydney.
"When we saw the spiral dust tail we immediately knew we were dealing with a rare and special kind of nebula called a pinwheel," Professor Tuthill said.
[...] "What we have found in the Apep system is a supernova precursor that seems to be very rapidly rotating, so fast it might be near break-up."
Wolf-Rayet stars, like those driving Apep's plume, are known to be very massive stars at the ends of their lives; they could explode as supernovae at any time.
"The rapid rotation puts Apep into a whole new class. Normal supernovae are already extreme events but adding rotation to the mix can really throw gasoline on the fire."
The researchers think this might be the recipe for a perfect stellar storm to produce a gamma-ray burst, which are the most extreme events in the Universe after the Big Bang itself. Fortunately, Apep appears not to be aimed at Earth, because a strike by a gamma-ray burst from this proximity could strip ozone from the atmosphere, drastically increasing our exposure to UV light from the Sun.
"Ultimately, we can't be certain what the future has in store for Apep," Professor Tuthill said.
"The system might slow down enough so it explodes as a normal supernova rather than a gamma-ray burst. However, in the meantime, it is providing astronomers a ringside seat into beautiful and dangerous physics that we have not seen before in our galaxy."
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday November 20 2018, @04:42PM (15 children)
Just asking. Because even if it'll take 8,000 years for the burst to hit us once launched, if it's face-on with us, we're screwed.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Tuesday November 20 2018, @05:20PM (6 children)
The fun part about stellar physics is that you don't know yet whether the burst happened 7999.8 years ago.
It might also happen in a very short 100k years.
Sleep tight.
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Tuesday November 20 2018, @07:38PM (5 children)
Oh yes, easy for you to say that, but what about the rest of us?
I'm off outside to start digging.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday November 20 2018, @09:57PM (4 children)
Just keep those scuba tanks full or grow some gills, water is only half as γ-opaque as concrete, diving 10 meters is as good as 5 meters of concrete.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Tuesday November 20 2018, @11:33PM (3 children)
Shouldn't Zombie embrace the idea of a gamma burst ?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 21 2018, @12:40AM (1 child)
Don't zombies like / need raw brains? A burst of gamma rays cooking all the meatbags around them wouldn't be good
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday November 21 2018, @12:57AM
Well, technically it would be good ... tasty ... with cheese and a fine wine ...
Finding supplies after a few days might be a problem, but if Zombie gets to pig out on perfectly fine brains for a week, wouldn't that turn it into a supra-genius and help find answers ?
http://archives.sluggy.com/book.php?chapter=53#2007-12-18 [sluggy.com]
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday November 21 2018, @12:46AM
He's only a part time zombie.
In the part that he is NOT zombie, he will suffer too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Interesting) by hendrikboom on Tuesday November 20 2018, @05:23PM
When I read that 8000 light-year number, I started worrying, Just how far does one have to be fro gamma ray burst to survive? 8000 light-years seems awfully close.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Immerman on Tuesday November 20 2018, @06:29PM (3 children)
*Everything* in space is line-of-sight with us - not a whole lot of anything to block the view out there. And if there were, we wouldn't be able to see what was blocked - line-of-sight works in both directions.
However, near the end of the summary they answer your real question: Fortunately, Apep appears not to be aimed at Earth, because a strike by a gamma-ray burst from this proximity could strip ozone from the atmosphere, drastically increasing our exposure to UV light from the Sun.
(Score: 2) by edIII on Wednesday November 21 2018, @12:47AM (2 children)
So, just what are the odds that Apep would be oriented (aimed) towards us when it goes?
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Immerman on Wednesday November 21 2018, @01:08AM
Well, unless the answer is zero (as in, our paths through the galaxy are such that it will never be aimed at us), I doubt a decent answer is possible. This is the first time we've ever had an opportunity to observe the process after all, so we have basically no idea what to expect. Heck, even our understanding of the physics within our own comparatively stable sun is rather shaky.
(Score: 2) by dry on Wednesday November 21 2018, @04:33AM
Probably close to zero as it'll explode before it moves far enough in its orbit (and the Sun likewise) to be aimed at us. These stars usually have a lifetime measured in a few millions of years and as the burst apparently is aimed along the axis of the stars rotation, it would have to move far enough in its galactic orbit to aim at us and quite likely it may never aim at us even if it didn't explode.
Not an expert, just my conjecture.
(Score: 2) by stormreaver on Tuesday November 20 2018, @06:30PM (2 children)
The odds of a gamma ray burst from this star coming anywhere even remotely close to our solar system is astronomically remote. So don't worry.
(Score: 4, Funny) by DannyB on Tuesday November 20 2018, @07:31PM (1 child)
Can't remember where I heard this quote . . .
The surface of the moon is covered with the results of astronomical odds.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 2) by stormreaver on Wednesday November 21 2018, @02:43AM
While funny, it's entirely untrue. The moon is covered with the results of high probabilities.