Supergiant star survived a violent eruption – however what comes subsequent?

A crimson supergiant within the Milky Way has thrown a curveball at astronomers. DFK 52, a member of the Stephenson 2 cluster, sits inside an unlimited bubble of gasoline and dirt that’s about 8.2 trillion miles throughout and roughly the mass of the Sun.

Researchers used the ALMA radio telescope in Chile to watch the crimson supergiant, which is analogous to the well-known star Betelgeuse. The mission was led by Mark Siebert at Chalmers University of Technology.

ALMA revealed that the bubble is increasing, suggesting a violent outburst about 4,000 years in the past that someway didn’t finish the star’s life.

Star bubble exhibits big mass outburst

The group describes a posh cloud that spreads outward in tangled arcs and clumps, not a tidy sphere, and reaches astonishing measurement for materials tied to a single star.

The consultants report that the indifferent shell holds roughly one photo voltaic mass and extends about 1.4 gentle years throughout.

The researchers hyperlink the growth to a brief, intense episode of mass loss that occurred a couple of millennia in the past. That timing is current in astronomical phrases and units up a pure take a look at case for a way huge stars shed materials earlier than they explode.

“We got a big surprise when we saw what Alma was showing us. The star is more or less a twin of Betelgeuse, but it’s surrounded by a vast, messy bubble of material,” mentioned Siebert.

What the radio telescope noticed

The ALMA array measures faint radio gentle from molecules like carbon monoxide and silicon monoxide, letting astronomers map gasoline speeds with the Doppler impact. Those information reveal each sluggish and quick elements transferring in several patterns across the star.

A compact, slower wind surrounds the star at present at about 6.2 miles per second. A sooner construction, possible a disk or ring oriented edge on, expands at about 16.8 miles per second and seems to be the relic of the traditional outburst.

This two-part image matches the brightness and form of the carbon monoxide emission. The mannequin factors to an equatorial characteristic containing only some hundredths of the Sun’s mass, together with a slower, steady wind shedding materials at a modest charge.

Why the star misplaced mass

Why did DFK 52 throw off a lot mass with out dying? The survival of the star after such a forceful ejection raises questions on what set off the occasion.

“To us, it’s a mystery as to how the star managed to expel so much material in such a short timeframe. Maybe, like Betelgeuse seems to, it has a companion star that’s still to be discovered,” mentioned Siebert.

The concept of a hidden companion that stirred the ambiance and helped peel off outer layers has gained traction. 

Another chance is a quick, unstable section inside the star itself. Episodic mass loss has been seen or inferred in different huge stars approaching the top of life, although the exact triggers stay debated.

What this implies for future supernovae

Dense gasoline and dirt near a star can change how a supernova seems to be in its first days. When recent ejecta slam into close by materials, the interplay can brighten the occasion and imprint distinctive options on the early spectrum.

Evidence for this habits already exists. A 2017 paper on SN 2013fs confirmed that the exploding star had a compact however dense circumstellar medium that was shed shortly earlier than the blast.

DFK 52’s bubble sits farther out, but it proves the star has a historical past of sturdy mass loss. If the star ramps up once more earlier than it dies, the setting might set the stage for a really conspicuous supernova.

Comparing the star to different supergiants

DFK 52 attracts comparisons to crimson supergiant icons like Betelgeuse and Antares. These are huge, swollen, cool stars nearing the top of their lives and anticipated to complete as Type II supernovae.

Betelgeuse itself confirmed how messy these stars might be when it dimmed in late 2019 and early 2020. That occasion was traced to a mud cloud fashioned by materials leaving the star.

DFK 52 seems much less luminous than probably the most excessive crimson supergiants however carries a bigger, colder envelope at nice distance. This mixture hints at an uncommon historical past that normal wind fashions don’t seize.

What occurs subsequent

The group plans comply with up observations to hunt for a companion and to refine the 3D construction of the shell. Better constraints on the gasoline chemistry and dirt properties will even assist kind out how the outburst unfolded.

“If this is a typical red supergiant, it could explode sometime in the next million years,” mentioned research co-author Elvire De Beck.

“We’re planning more observations to understand what’s happening, and to find out whether this might be the Milky Way’s next supernova.”

The research is printed in Astronomy and Astrophysics.

Image Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/M. Siebert et al

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