When analyzing data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), scientists encountered something that was not a planet, but rather a dazzling burst of light from an undefinable object.
TESS, the spacecraft equipped with a powerful space telescope, recently captured a completely new astronomical object known as “micronova.”
“Micronovae are extremely powerful events, but they are small in scale compared to astronomical standards.” – reported Sci-News, citing the conclusions of a research team led by astronomer Simone Scaringi from Durham University (UK).
The white dwarf star (small white object) that produced micronovae, which erupt from its two poles after overindulging by “siphoning” from its red giant companion – (Photo: ESO / M. Kornmesser / L. Calçada).
The research team reported that while analyzing data from TESS, they discovered three dazzling bursts of light from three binary star systems TV Columbae, EI Ursae Majoris, and ASASSN-19bh. These bursts of light are the micronovae.
Two of the micronovae originated from known white dwarfs, TV Columbae and EI Ursae Majoris, while the third micronova, ASASSN-19bh, requires further observations using the X-Shooter instrument on the Very Large Telescope (VLT) of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) to confirm its white dwarf status.
Micronovae appear in telescope data as bright optical beams that last for several hours. They occur at the magnetic poles of the white dwarf, where hydrogen is accumulated. The cause is that these white dwarfs have previously exhibited “vampiric” behavior, siphoning from their companion stars. Occasionally, they become overloaded and produce small explosions – the micronovae.
These events are very powerful but much smaller than supernovae, which are the final explosions that tear apart white dwarfs. A white dwarf is a type of stellar remnant formed after a sun-like star exhausts its energy, collapsing after a period of expansion into a red giant.
This research was recently published in the scientific journal Nature.
