🌟 The star that keeps 'exploding' but never dies
X-ray data from NASA's Chandra reveal a hidden partner, a neutron star or a black hole, behind the repeated outbursts of the giant star AT 2016blu.
The mystery
Since 2012, astronomers have watched a huge star in the galaxy NGC 4559 flare up at least 27 times, so brightly that each burst looks like a supernova. Yet the star is still there. What keeps setting it off?
The answer
A team led by Mojgan Aghakhanloo of the University of Virginia timed NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory to catch AT 2016blu during an outburst. They found a hidden companion, a neutron star or a black hole about the mass of a star, that circles it every 113 days and strips gas from it. That fires off X-rays, which heat the surrounding gas until it glows in visible light. The giant star, at least 33 times the mass of the Sun, lies about 30 million light-years away. It is the first star of this kind ever detected in X-rays.
Now think about this
How many other 'exploding' stars in the sky might really be survivors with a hidden partner?
