How Stars Die: Scientists Report on New Observations
2023-07-04
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1Scientists recently observed an extremely powerful explosion coming from an ancient galaxy.
2The astronomers suspect the gamma ray burst they saw was the result of two neutron stars crashing into each other.
3Neutron stars are the remains of massive stars that have collapsed into themselves.
4They are small in size but extremely heavy.
5The stars are in an area dense with space objects near a supermassive black hole at the center of their galaxy.
6"In order to explain the gamma-ray burst, it has to have been a compact star, so not one like the sun," said study lead writer astronomer Andrew Levan of Radboud University in The Netherlands.
7The study appeared in the publication Nature Astronomy.
8Scientist Wen-fai Fong of Northwestern University in Illinois co-wrote the study.
9"Gamma-ray bursts are the most powerful explosions in the universe," she noted.
10The researchers said that gravitational forces from the black hole may cause nearby objects to move around a lot, increasing the chance of collision.
11When very massive stars, those more than 10 times larger than the sun, die in explosions, they can become neutron stars or even black holes.
12Smaller stars like the sun leave behind what are called white dwarves.
13These new observations show another path to star death.
14In Nature Astronomy, Levan said, "The idea that stars also can die through collisions in extremely dense regions has been around since at least the 1980s. So we've been waiting for 40 years for the signatures to be found observationally."
15Scientists used the data from different telescopes to study the gamma-ray bursts, which took place over 3 billion light years away.
16A light year is about 9.5 trillion kilometers.
17Most of the galaxy's stars are billions of years old. Fong wrote: "The galaxy is what we call a 'quiescent' - a galaxy that is not actively forming stars at a high rate...."
18Quiescent galaxies have supermassive black holes in their center, where many collisions take place.
19Levan said: "You certainly wouldn't want a front-row seat to one of these events."
20I'm Dominic Varela.
1Scientists recently observed an extremely powerful explosion coming from an ancient galaxy. 2The astronomers suspect the gamma ray burst they saw was the result of two neutron stars crashing into each other. Neutron stars are the remains of massive stars that have collapsed into themselves. They are small in size but extremely heavy. 3The stars are in an area dense with space objects near a supermassive black hole at the center of their galaxy. 4"In order to explain the gamma-ray burst, it has to have been a compact star, so not one like the sun," said study lead writer astronomer Andrew Levan of Radboud University in The Netherlands. The study appeared in the publication Nature Astronomy. 5Scientist Wen-fai Fong of Northwestern University in Illinois co-wrote the study. 6"Gamma-ray bursts are the most powerful explosions in the universe," she noted. 7The researchers said that gravitational forces from the black hole may cause nearby objects to move around a lot, increasing the chance of collision. 8When very massive stars, those more than 10 times larger than the sun, die in explosions, they can become neutron stars or even black holes. Smaller stars like the sun leave behind what are called white dwarves. 9These new observations show another path to star death. 10In Nature Astronomy, Levan said, "The idea that stars also can die through collisions in extremely dense regions has been around since at least the 1980s. So we've been waiting for 40 years for the signatures to be found observationally." 11Scientists used the data from different telescopes to study the gamma-ray bursts, which took place over 3 billion light years away. A light year is about 9.5 trillion kilometers. 12Most of the galaxy's stars are billions of years old. Fong wrote: "The galaxy is what we call a 'quiescent' - a galaxy that is not actively forming stars at a high rate...." 13Quiescent galaxies have supermassive black holes in their center, where many collisions take place. 14Levan said: "You certainly wouldn't want a front-row seat to one of these events." 15I'm Dominic Varela. 16Reuters reported this story. Dominic Varela adapted the report for VOA Learning English. 17_____________________________________________________________ 18Words in This Story 19galaxy - n. any of the very large groups of stars and associated matter that are found throughout the universe 20astronomer - n. a person who is skilled in astronomy or who makes observations of celestial phenomena 21compact - adj. having a dense structure or parts or units closely packed or joined 22collision - n. an act or instance of coming together with solid or direct impact 23region - n. area 24_________________________________________________________________ 25What do you think of this story? 26We want to hear from you. We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 27Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.