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In the 1970s, astronomers identified something straight out of a childhood dream: a literal shooting star. Next, astronomers observed the star LP 40−365 come out of our galaxy like a home run. Now a new team say they took another look at the star and found its turnover rate. This gives a clue to how he began his exhilarating journey out of our cosmic quarter.
SYFY wire took up the discovery, which astronomers described in an article published in Letters from the astrophysical journal. The team, led by astronomers from Boston University, notes in their study that they aimed to find the rate of rotation of the “partly burnt-out” star. He did this to explore ways that might indicate how LP 40-365 has gained such tremendous momentum. (For reference, the star flies out of the galaxy at nearly two million miles per hour.)
NASA / JPL-Caltech
What sent the shooting star on its way? Astronomers believe the culprit was a companion star. Previously, LP 40−365 was probably locked in orbit with another star. Thus, “feeding” on the gas and dust of his companion, which he was able to do thanks to his relative density and his gravitational attraction. Then, at one point, the star engulfed so much gas and dust that it collapsed under its own mass and exploded. But a remnant of the shot, incredibly, remained.
“To have suffered a partial detonation and survive is very cool and unique. And it was only in the last few years that we started to think that this kind of star could exist, ”said co-author Odelia Putterman in a report by Royal Australian Institution. Astronomers also say that the explosion that created LP 40-365 also likely threw its companion star in the opposite direction.
It means that somewhere out there someone may wish for another literal shooting star.
NASA / JPL-Caltech
