Fastest spinning star confirms Indian Nobel laureate’s theory
Nearly seven decades after it was predicted that rapidly spinning stars would emit polarised light, astronomers have observed the phenomenon for the first time
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Tau.Neutrino said:
Fastest spinning star confirms Indian Nobel laureate’s theoryNearly seven decades after it was predicted that rapidly spinning stars would emit polarised light, astronomers have observed the phenomenon for the first time
more…
Regulus!
Regulus!!!
mollwollfumble said:
Tau.Neutrino said:
Fastest spinning star confirms Indian Nobel laureate’s theoryNearly seven decades after it was predicted that rapidly spinning stars would emit polarised light, astronomers have observed the phenomenon for the first time
more…
Regulus!
Regulus!!!
“The primary of Regulus A has about 3.5 times the Sun’s mass. It is spinning extremely rapidly, with a rotation period of only 15.9 hours, which causes it to have a highly oblate shape. This results in so-called gravity darkening: the photosphere at Regulus’ poles is considerably hotter, and five times brighter per unit surface area, than its equatorial region. The star’s surface at the equator rotates at about 320 kilometres per second (199 miles per second), or 96.5% of its critical angular velocity for break-up. It is emitting polarized light because of this.”
There’s something screwy about this.
An object spinning just under its critical angular velocity is not oblate. It’s peanut shaped with long axis perpendicular to spin axis.
Like this.
https://www.nature.com/articles/srep07660/figures/1
https://www.nature.com/articles/srep07660/figures/4
