Author: Fraser Cain

Life near the center of our galaxy never had a chance. Every 20 million years on average, gas pours into the galactic center and slams together, creating millions of new stars. The more massive stars soon go supernova, exploding violently and blasting the surrounding space with enough energy to sterilize it completely. This scenario is detailed by astronomer Antony Stark (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics) and colleagues in the October 10, 2004, issue of The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

The team’s discovery was made possible using the unique capabilities of the Antarctic Submillimeter Telescope and Remote Observatory (AST/RO). It is the only observatory in the world able to make large-scale maps of the sky at submillimeter wavelengths.

The gas for each starburst comes from a ring of material located about 500 light-years from the center of our galaxy. Gas collects there under the influence of the galactic bar-a stretched oval of stars 6,000 light-years long rotating in the middle of the Milky Way. Tidal forces and interactions with this bar cause the ring of gas to build up to higher and higher densities until it reaches a critical density or “tipping point.” At that point, the gas collapses down into the galactic center and smashes together, fueling a huge burst of star formation.

“A starburst is star formation gone wild,” says Stark.

Astronomers see starbursts in many galaxies, most often colliding galaxies where lots of gas crashes together. But starbursts can happen in isolated galaxies too, including our own galaxy, the Milky Way.

The next starburst in the Milky Way is coming relatively soon, predicts Stark. “It likely will happen within the next 10 million years.”

That assessment is based on the team’s measurements showing that the gas density in the ring is nearing the critical density. Once that threshold is crossed, the ring will collapse and a starburst will blaze forth on an unimaginably huge scale.

Some 30 million solar masses of matter will flood inward, overwhelming the 3 million solar mass black hole at the galactic center. The black hole, massive as it is, will be unable to consume most of the gas.

“It would be like trying to fill a dog dish with a firehose,” says Stark. Instead, most of the gas will form millions of new stars.

The more massive stars will burn their fuel quickly, exhausting it in only a few million years. Then, they will explode as supernovae and irradiate the surrounding space. With so many stars packed so close together as a result of the starburst, the entire galactic center will be impacted dramatically enough to kill any life on an Earth-like planet. Fortunately, the Earth itself lies about 25,000 light-years away, far enough that we are not in danger.

The facility used to make this discovery, AST/RO, is a 1.7-meter-diameter telescope that operates in one of the most challenging environments on the planet-the frigid desert of Antarctica. It is located at the National Science Foundation’s Amundsen-Scott Station at the South Pole. The air at the South Pole is very dry and cold, so radiation that would be absorbed by water vapor at other sites can reach the ground and be detected.

“These observations have helped advance our understanding of star formation in the Milky Way,” says Stark. “We hope to continue those advancements by collaborating with researchers who are working on the Spitzer Space Telescope’s Legacy Science Program. AST/RO’s complementary observations would uniquely contribute to that effort.”

Stark’s co-authors on the paper announcing this finding are Christopher L. Martin, Wilfred M. Walsh, Kecheng Xiao and Adair P. Lane (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), and Christopher K. Walker (Steward Observatory).

Headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) is a joint collaboration between the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and the Harvard College Observatory. CfA scientists, organized into six research divisions, study the origin, evolution and ultimate fate of the universe.

Original Source: CfA News Release

Image credit: NASA
Three powerful blasts from three wholly different regions in space have left scientists scrambling. The blasts, which lasted only a few seconds, might be early alert systems for star explosions called supernovae, which could start appearing any day now.

The first two blasts, called X-ray flashes, occurred on September 12 and 16. These were followed by a more powerful burst on September 24 that seems to be on the cusp between an X-ray flash and a full-fledged gamma-ray burst, a discovery interesting in its own right. If these signals lead to supernovae, as expected, scientists would have a tool to predict star explosions and then watch them go off from start to finish.

A team led by Dr. George Ricker of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology detected the explosions with NASA’s High-Energy Transient Explorer (HETE-2). Science teams around the world using space- and ground-based observatories have joined in, torn and conflicted over which burst region to track most closely.

“Each burst has been beautiful,” said Ricker. “Depending on how these evolve, they could support important theories about supernovae and gamma-ray bursts. These past two weeks have been like ‘cock, fire, reload.’ Nature keeps on delivering, and our HETE-2 satellite keeps on responding flawlessly.”

Gamma-ray bursts are the most powerful explosions known other than the Big Bang. Many appear to be caused by the death of a massive star collapsing into a black hole. Others might be from merging black holes or neutron stars. In either case, the event likely produces twin, narrow jets in opposite directions, which carry off tremendous amounts of energy. If one of jets points to Earth, we see this energy as a “gamma-ray” burst.

The lower-energy X-ray flashes might be gamma-ray bursts viewed slightly off angle from the jet direction, somewhat similar to how a flashlight is less blinding when viewed at an angle. The majority of light particles from X-ray flashes, called photons, are X rays — energetic, but not quite as powerful as gamma rays. Both types of bursts last only a few milliseconds to about a minute. HETE-2 detects the bursts, studies their properties, and provides a location so that other observatories can study the burst afterglow in detail.

The trio of bursts from the past few weeks has the potential of settling two long-standing debates. Some scientists say that X-ray flashes are different beasts all together, not related to gamma-ray bursts and massive star explosions. Detecting a supernova in the region where the X-ray flash appeared would refute that belief, instead confirming the connection between the two. Follow-up observations of the September 24 burst, named GRB040924 for the date it was observed, are already solidifying the theory of a cosmic explosion continuum from X-ray flashes up through gamma-ray bursts.

More interesting for supernova hunters is the fact that X-ray flashes are closer to Earth than gamma-ray bursts are. While the connection between gamma-ray bursts and supernovae has been made, these supernovae are too distant to study in detail. X-ray flashes might be signals for supernovae that scientists can actually sink their teeth into and observe in detail. Yet for now, it is just watch and wait.

“Last year the discovery of GRB030329 by HETE-2 sealed the connection between gamma-ray bursts and massive supernovae,” said Prof. Stanford Woosley of the University of California at Santa Cruz, who has championed several theories concerning the physics of star explosions. “These two September bursts may be the first time we see an X-ray flash lead to a supernova. We might know very soon.”

In addition to all of this, GRB040924 goes on record as generating the fastest response ever for a gamma-ray burst satellite. HETE-2 detected the burst and relayed information through the NASA-operated Gamma-ray Burst Coordinates Network in under 14 seconds, which led to an optical detection about 15 minutes later with the Palomar 60-inch telescope, just north of San Diego. Dr. Derek Fox of Caltech was the lead on this observation.

“We all expect much more of this type of exciting science to come after the launch of Swift,” said Dr. Anne Kinney, director of NASA’s Universe Division. Swift, to launch in October, contains three telescopes (gamma ray, X ray and UV/optical) for quick burst detection, swift relay of information, and immediate follow-up observations of the afterglow.

HETE was built by MIT as a mission of opportunity under the NASA Explorer Program, collaboration among U.S. universities, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and scientists and organizations in Brazil, France, India, Italy and Japan.

Additional information about the physics of star explosions:
While many scientists say that X-ray flashes are gamma-ray bursts viewed slightly off angle, another theory is that the star explosion that causes the X-ray flash is rich in baryons (a family of particles that includes protons and neutrons), as opposed to leptons (particles that include electrons). A baryon-dominated blast would produce more X rays, and a lepton-dominated blast would produce more gamma rays. This is because the baryons move more slowly than leptons; and slower moving matter would make a softer (lower-energy) burst at all angles.

According to Dr. Stanford Woosley, the supernova / gamma-ray burst connection is this: When a massive star runs out of nuclear fuel, its core will collapse, yet without the star’s outer part knowing. A black hole forms inside surrounded by a disk of accreting matter, and, within a few seconds, this launches a jet of matter away from the black hole that ultimately makes the gamma-ray burst. The jet pierces the outer shell of the star about nine seconds after its creation. The jet of matter, in conjunction with vigorous winds of newly forged radioactive nickel-56 blowing off the disk inside, shatters the star within seconds. This shattering represents the supernova event, and the amount of radioactive nickel-56 gives its brightness. However, from our vantage point, we will not see the supernova until about two weeks after the gamma-ray burst because the region is enshrouded by gas and dust, blocking light.

Original Source: NASA News Release