Hubble Detects a Jet Blasting From a Star Crash at 99.97% the Velocity of Light
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope measured the colliding stars, which seemed to be traveling at a higher velocity due to an illusion.
A jet of radiation from the collision of 2 neutron stars travels at speeds greater than 99.97% of the speed of light.
The crash and formation
The event, called GW170817, was observed in 2017 by astronomers from around the world and also in space. The big blast gave off energy that was almost like a supernova explosion.
Two days later, astronomers intended the Hubble Telescope at the site of the explosion, where the neutron stars crashed into a black hole, and the gravity began pulling material towards it. That material formed a spinning disk that generated jets moving outward. The fast-moving jet slammed into each other and swept up product and debris. Part of this debris included the substance that formed the jet.
Locating the explosion
The Hubble Telescope measurements were combined with observations from different astronomical radio equipment, including the other National Science Foundation radio telescopes working together for long baseline interferometry (VLBI). The statistics from the radio telescopes were taken 75 days and 230 days after the crash.
By combining the various observations, scientists can accurately identify the explosion’s location.
Speed of the jet
The jet’s quick speed was an illusion, appearing to go quicker than the speed of light, although such an outcome is not possible. “The Hubble measurement showed the jet was moving at an apparent velocity of 7 times the speed of light. The radio observations show the jet later had decelerated to an apparent speed of four times faster than the speed of light,” NASA said on its website.
The agency stated that the motion and speed of the jet seem to be going so quickly “because the jet is approaching Planet at nearly the rate of light, the light it emits at a later time has a shorter distance to go. In essence, the jet is chasing its own light.”
This observation allows future astronomers to observe detailed studies of neutron mergers.
Read the original article on NASA.
