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An international team of researchers led by Michigan University reports on the course of this cosmic event in the journal Nature Astronomy.
In 2013, TUGSAT-1 and UniBRITE were the first Austrian satellites to launch into space. They were also the first probes of the BRITE constellation carried by Austria, Canada and Poland – a total of five nanosatellites that collect data on the fluctuations in brightness of very bright and massive stars. It is hoped that this will improve the theories about the structure of stars and the history of the universe.
The satellites have taken millions of images so far. It was due to chance that a nova outbreak could also be documented. In 2018, the satellites had continuously observed 18 stars in the Carina constellation for several weeks when Rainer Kuschnig, Operations Manager of the BRITE constellation at the Technical University (TU) Graz, suddenly discovered a new star in the images during the daily control of the probes. Suddenly there was a star on our recordings that was not there the day before, says Kuschnig.
The supposed new star turned out to be a so-called nova. The main role in this cosmic event is played by a so-called white dwarf. These are the remains of a burned-out sun. The matter of a white dwarf is very densely packed. With its great gravity, it sucks gas out of the outer layers of the second star – until the additional gas on the surface of the white dwarf becomes so dense and hot that the hydrogen melts explosively in it.
As with the explosion of a hydrogen bomb, huge shock fronts are created and there is an enormous burst of light and the production of high-energy radiation such as gamma and X-ray radiation.
Between March and July 2018, the scientists were able to document the event in all its phases – from the eruption to the maximum brightness to the glow – and with unprecedented precision, as Konstanze Zwintz, head of the BRITE Science Team at the Institute for Astro and Particle Physics University of Innsbruck explained.
This also gave them confirmation of the previous explanation concept for Novae, specifically that shock fronts are responsible for the outbursts of brightness. Incidentally, the nova took place a long time ago, its light took about 13,000 years to reach Earth.
* Specialist article link: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-020-1070-y
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