Astronomers discovered a stellar object in the Small Magellanic Cloud, previously considered a hypothetical
Using 6.5-meter optical telescopes at the Las Campas Observatory in Chile, astronomers discovered the red supergiant HV 2112, whose spectrum is very different from that typical of stars of this class. Best of all, it corresponds to the spectrum predicted by astrophysicists Kip Thorn and Anna Zhitkov in 1977 of the exotic binary system. The Thorn-Zhitkov object is a close binary system of a red supergiant and a neutron star. The unusual nature of this object is that the neutron star in this system, as a result of braking on the outer layers of the supergiant, loses speed and rapidly falls into it along a spiral trajectory. Due to the enormous temperature and gravity at the surface of the neutron star, the surrounding substance of the supergiant enters into unusual thermonuclear reactions, generating an excess amount of lithium and relatively heavy elements such as rubidium and molybdenum.
Thorn-Zhitkov objects are extremely rare, since they occur only in very heavy and close binary systems, and are only one of the stages of stellar evolution that lasts very short. Since the beginning of the deceleration of the neutron star on the outer layers of the supergiant to stop it in the core of the companion, it has been just a thousand years. A month later, the two stars finally merge into one. After that, the object of Thorn-Zhitkov collapses into a black hole or a neutron star, depending on the mass.
Star HV 2112 today is the most likely candidate for the title of the object Thorn-Zhitkov - its spectrum is very slightly different from that predicted by theory. No other hypothesis known today can explain the anomalous spectrum of a star. Now the theorists will have to refine the model taking into account the experimental data obtained - if it succeeds, HV 2112 will receive an “official” confirmation of its belonging to one of the most exotic classes of stellar systems.
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The article about the discovery is published on the website arxiv.org and is available for free download.
Thorn-Zhitkov objects are extremely rare, since they occur only in very heavy and close binary systems, and are only one of the stages of stellar evolution that lasts very short. Since the beginning of the deceleration of the neutron star on the outer layers of the supergiant to stop it in the core of the companion, it has been just a thousand years. A month later, the two stars finally merge into one. After that, the object of Thorn-Zhitkov collapses into a black hole or a neutron star, depending on the mass.
Star HV 2112 today is the most likely candidate for the title of the object Thorn-Zhitkov - its spectrum is very slightly different from that predicted by theory. No other hypothesis known today can explain the anomalous spectrum of a star. Now the theorists will have to refine the model taking into account the experimental data obtained - if it succeeds, HV 2112 will receive an “official” confirmation of its belonging to one of the most exotic classes of stellar systems.
')
The article about the discovery is published on the website arxiv.org and is available for free download.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/226115/
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