Uranium Flake Nuclear Bombs In Space
It seems that some Ia-type supernovae that like to go against the laws of physics exist. Each of these supernovae should be exactly the same but occasionally we see slightly weaker ones. Maybe these could be caused by the smallest nuclear bombs in the Universe.
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When a star similar to our Sun reaches the end of its lifespan it ends as a white dwarf that slowly cools down. But some white dwarfs have a much more explosive fate. They explode as a supernova, more specifically Ia-type supernova. These monumental explosions usually take place in close binary systems where the white dwarf slowly steals mass from its stellar partner. Once it goes over a certain mass it explodes in a spectacular supernova.
The thing is that this limit is always exactly the same. Ia type supernovae always explode with the same brightness and astronomers are happy to exploit this to measure stellar distances. But, the Universe is full of surprises, and that some Ia-type supernovae are less bright than they are supposed to be. And this makes no sense.
That’s why Chuck Horowitz from Indiana University and Matt Caplan from Illinois State University in their new study proposes that some white dwarfs could explode as a supernova without having a stellar partner to steal matter from.
White dwarfs are the compressed cores of burnt-out stars that originally had a mass of fewer than 10 Suns. They are mostly made from carbon and oxygen with a few other elements mixed in here and there – including uranium. And as white dwarfs cool down these heaviest atoms sink into the core of the white dwarf.
According to Horowitz and Caplan sometimes the smallest nuclear bombs in the Universe may get created in them. These would be made from tiny flakes of radioactive uranium that get created by individual atoms of uranium sticking together. And when a random neutron hits these flakes it can star a nuclear fission reaction that could potentially start a whole storm of such reactions just like when a nuclear bomb explodes. This explosion can then potentially ignite the white dwarf to fire off like a supernova. It just like a spark igniting a barrel of gunpowder.
The only thing is that for this process to work there needs to be a very high amount of uranium-235. That means it can only work for white dwarfs that got created only from the largest stars capable of turning into white dwarfs.
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It was the gaming that made me check the science!
That's good :) People should also hear about the science