Scientists have discovered two stars in the process of forming a supernova, about 1,500 light-years away from Earth, approaching each other in a sign of “certain doom” for them.
Experts led by the British University of Warwick were able to identify a sub-event in the binary star system that bears the code “HD265435” using the “TESS” satellite of the US space agency “NASA” dedicated to observing exoplanets.
According to the British newspaper, “Daily Mail”, which published a news story about the discovery titled (Teardrop Star Reveals Hidden Supernova Destruction), the distortion of one of the two stars, which turned it into a teardrop-like shape due to the loss of its substance, revealed the presence of a more massive white dwarf between the two stars.
According to the article, this process will end with the transformation of the “dead” white star into a blazing mass that leads to a massive explosion in the form of a supernova.
Experts have confirmed that this explosion will not happen for 70 million years, but until then, the two stars will continue to orbit each other at an astonishing rate of one revolution every 100 minutes as the white dwarf consumes the sub-dwarf.
Teardrop star reveals hidden supernova doom https://t.co/Ern8isPs3g#science #Astronomy #Astrophysics #SpacePlanetaryScience #StarsTheSun pic.twitter.com/uQ7EVpjCgX
— Bioengineer.org (@bioengineerorg) July 12, 2021
This is a very rare case, which observes one of the rarest binary systems discovered by astronomers, which is destined to transform into a supernova.
The researchers noted that this discovery would improve our awareness and understanding of how supernovae form in space and could also help in studies of the causes of the expansion of the universe.