Astronomers found blasts of powerful warm winds from a neutron star
The discovery provides new insight into the behaviors of some of the most extreme objects in the universe.
BY
AMIT MALEWAR
MARCH 3, 2022
Image Credit: Gabriel Pérez (IAC)
Low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXB) consist of a neutron star or black hole accreting material from a star similar to our Sun. Most accretion happens during violent eruptions where the LMXB system lights up drastically. Simultaneously, some of the material that spirals in is moved back into space in the form of disc winds and jets.
Warm gas is the most common sign of outflowing material. Only “hot” or “cold” gas winds have been observed in transient X-ray binaries until now.
Astronomers using the most powerful telescopes on Earth and in space, a team of astronomers has found for the first-time blasts of hot, warm, and cold winds from a neutron star while it consumes matter from a nearby star. In this study- led by the University of Southampton, astronomers studied the recent eruption of the X-ray binary known as Swift J1858.
They found repeated signatures of a warm wind at ultraviolet wavelengths. These signatures were occurring simultaneously as signatures of cold wind at optical wavelengths.
More:
https://www.techexplorist.com/astronomers-found-blasts-powerful-warm-winds-neutron-star/45065/
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