Researchers See Into the Middle of an Exploding Star

The inner regions of a collapsing, rapidly spinning massive star. The colors indicate entropy, which roughly corresponds to heat: Red regions are very hot, while blue regions are cold. Simulation: Christian Ott, Visualization: Steve Drasco

One of the most violent and chaotic events in the known universe is the moment when a star explodes. On average, about two stars in our galaxy per century buckle under the pressure of their own gravity, break down from the inside out, and go supernova.

Astronomers can investigate these supernovae here on Earth because they detect the tiny uncharged particles, known as neutrinos, that stars send out after collapsing. And now, thanks to some nifty computer modeling done by a group of astrophysicists at Caltech, we might get our first look inside the belly of an exploding star.

Neutrinos just don?t like to interact with normal matter; they can travel incredible distances, simply passing through any matter in their way. This makes them difficult to detect but very useful if monitored: Because the neutrino will probably reach our planet in the same form that it left the supernova, it can give scientists a glimpse into the inner workings of a star.

When a star begins its death throes, its interior can start rotating at an extremely high speed?about 400 times per second. The researchers found that the neutrinos, and the gravitational waves carrying them, oscillate at the same frequency as the spinning star core. This means that by tracking the speed of neutrinos heading towards our planet, scientists will be able to understand what the inside of a star was doing at the moment of explosion.

Astronomers have a pretty solid idea of what a dying star looks through most of the stages of its death, but the catalyst for the final push towards total implosion is still a mystery? researchers still aren?t entirely sure what the "supernova mechanism" is that sets off the full collapse.

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/how-to/blog/researchers-see-into-the-middle-of-an-exploding-star-10599682?src=rss

virgin diaries kevin smith kevin smith carlos mencia packers stock sale packers stock sale jason mayhem miller