New research suggests that a hidden neighbor managed to steal material from a star before it exploded. When a massive star finally uses its own fuel, an explosion occurs, known as a supernova. As a result, stellar material from the outer layers of a dying object is thrown into space, leaving behind a dense neutron star. Usually the material is equivalent to several solar masses.
But observations of the weak supernova iPTF14gqr on the edge of a spiral galaxy, which is 920 million light-years distant, show the rapid evaporation of a stellar explosion. That is, only 1/5 of the solar mass was ejected. Where did she go? It is also important that scientists were the first to observe a nuclear explosion of a massive star, devoid of a large part of matter.
The Palomar Observatory caught moments before, during and after the events of the weak supernova iPTF14gqr. The supernova remains after a dense neutron star orbiting a satellite, which deprived the star of its mass before it exploded. For a star to explode as a supernova, it must have sufficient mass. It turns out that iPTF14gqr was previously shrouded in a multitude of material. The researchers believe that the neutron star has a hidden satellite, which managed to take away from the star most of the mass before the explosion. Moreover, we are talking about a white dwarf, a neutron star or a black hole. The object must be close to the dying neutron star in order to gravitationally separate its mass before the explosion. Therefore, they are considered to be a compact binary system of a neutron star.
With the help of iPTF at the Palomar Observatory, scientists were able to observe a supernova in the first hours after its explosion. The analysis shows that the explosion was to occur in the collapsing core of a massive star 500 times the solar radius. It is expected that with time the neutron star and satellite will merge.
