Consider the following statements regarding the Nova Explosion:1. It i...
Global professionals and amateur astronomers waiting for an once-in-a-lifetime nova explosion which will occur in September, 3,000 light-years from the Earth.
- It is the dramatic instance of a star exploding as it interacts with another, nearby star.
- It’s a one of many, repeated moments during the long, slow, death of two neighboring stars in the same system.
- Astronomers are waiting for the fiery explosion of T Coronae Borealis, also dubbed the “Blaze Star” and known to astronomers as “T CrB”.
- For T CrB, this nova event happens roughly every 80 years — it’s a like Halley’s Comet event every 76 years — so, astronomers call T CrB a “recurrent” nova.
- They believe T CrB’s prior eruptions were observed as long ago as December 1787 and even in October 1217 AD.
- When T CrB erupts, its luminosity will increase dramatically, making it visible to the naked eye for several days.
- Process
- The system contains two stars — a white dwarf and a red giant.
- The white dwarf is an incredibly dense remnant of a once larger star. It’s about the size of planet Earth but with the same mass as our sun.
- Its neighbor, the red giant, is in its final years of existence and is slowly being stripped of hydrogen by the gravitational pull of the denser white dwarf.
- This star “cannibalism” causes a tremendous buildup of pressure and heat, which eventually triggers a huge thermonuclear explosion.
- The explosion doesn’t completely destroy the stars, however, and so this event repeats over time. It can carry on for hundreds of thousands of years.
- Different nova events have different cycles, ranging from a few years to hundreds of thousands of years.
Hence only statement 1 is correct.
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Consider the following statements regarding the Nova Explosion:1. It i...
Explanation:
Nova Explosion:
A nova explosion is an event where a star suddenly increases in brightness, temporarily becoming extremely luminous. This phenomenon is caused by the interaction of a white dwarf star with a companion star in a binary star system.
Statement Analysis:
Let's analyze the statements given in the question:
1. It is an event where a star explodes as it interacts with another star.
This statement is correct. A nova explosion occurs when material from a companion star accumulates on the surface of a white dwarf star, leading to a sudden burst of energy and increased brightness.
2. It destroys both interacting stars immediately in this explosion.
This statement is incorrect. In a nova explosion, the white dwarf star does not completely destroy itself or the companion star. The white dwarf undergoes a thermonuclear runaway reaction on its surface, causing a temporary increase in luminosity. The companion star may survive the event.
Therefore, the correct answer is option 'a) 1 only'. The nova explosion does not result in the immediate destruction of both interacting stars.
In conclusion, a nova explosion is a fascinating astronomical event that involves the interaction of two stars in a binary system, leading to a temporary increase in brightness of the white dwarf star without destroying either of the stars involved.