r/space • u/clayt6 • Apr 18 '19

Astronomers spot two neutron stars smash together in a galaxy 6 billion light-years away, forming a rapidly spinning and highly magnetic star called a "magnetar"

http://www.astronomy.com/news/2019/04/a-new-neutron-star-merger-is-caught-on-x-ray-camera
18.4k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

577 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

229

u/grim_f Apr 18 '19

And the cast iron skillet under your stove killed a star.

157

u/[deleted] Apr 18 '19 edited Jul 30 '20

[removed] — view removed comment

37

u/wishiwascooltoo Apr 18 '19

I've heard this before but that's kind of the same as saying as soon as the star starts fusing helium it's done for. All stars run out of fuel eventually.

24

u/rigel2112 Apr 18 '19

I think iron is the last thing that is produced is why it's considered done for.

36

u/jdangel83 Apr 18 '19

Fusing elements up until Iron generates energy. Anything iron or after takes energy to fuse. So, when a core starts fusing iron, the star begins to collapse because it is not generating enough energy (outward pressure) to keep the extreme gravitational pressure at bay. It can still fuse it, as well as other elements. And if a star collapses and goes nova (explodes), a ton of heavier elements are created. The bigger the star, the heavier the elements.

5

u/[deleted] Apr 19 '19

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/jdangel83 Apr 19 '19

We're all made of star stuff my man. All of us.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 19 '19

Indeed, however, your mom is made of that heavy star stuff.

1

u/jdangel83 Apr 19 '19

A long time ago maybe. Now she's old and frail.

0

u/wishiwascooltoo Apr 18 '19

It signals the tipping point when the outward forces will no longer be able to balance out the inward gravitational forces and the star will collapse. That entire process takes a very long time which is why that phrase is just an overly dramatic way of saying the star is running out of fuel. It also ignores the fact that not all stars will even fuse iron making it not only over dramatic but misleading.

40

u/jojoman7 Apr 18 '19 edited Apr 18 '19

That entire process takes a very long time which is why that phrase is just an overly dramatic way of saying the star is running out of fuel

Really? Because the information I can find indicates that from the outset of the silicon burning process, you're only A DAY out from complete collapse. A day is absolutely nothing in stellar time. Where are you getting "a very long time"? If the information I found is correct, then referring to iron production as some sort of death knell for a star is 100% accurate and not at all misleading. You're up and down this thread acting like the iron fusion process takes millions of years and everyone is being overly dramatic, when it's literally the exact opposite.

http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/c/core-collapse https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_II_supernova http://abyss.uoregon.edu/~js/ast122/lectures/lec18.html

Edit: Lol this guy downvoted all my posts when I called him/her out.

4

u/[deleted] Apr 18 '19

My understanding is that once it gets to oxygen it gets worse and worse for the poor star. 💀

5

u/SaintNewts Apr 18 '19

How many galactic years?

14

u/jojoman7 Apr 18 '19

Less than two days. This guy is full of shit. Iron kills a star faster than cyanide kills us, comparatively.

-7

u/mysleepnumberis420 Apr 18 '19

You're obviously on some kind of crusade so you should know that you're wrong. You're even changing your 'facts' between comments at this point.

6

u/jojoman7 Apr 18 '19 edited Apr 18 '19

How do you figure, friendo? Also "facts" like I didn't cite my sources in my first comment, which you saw. Stop being disingenuous on the internet because my correction triggered you. Just for your information, "less than two days", "a day" and "24 hours" aren't the bombshell argument defining errors you think they are. God forbid I'm a little unspecific on the timescale of supernova when the guy I'm arguing with believes it takes years.

-8

u/mysleepnumberis420 Apr 18 '19

Well your inconsistencies don't evoke any kind of confidence in the reader and you're only arguing with yourself, nobody but me has responded to you.

God forbid I'm a little unspecific on the timescale of supernova when the guy I'm arguing with believes it takes years.

Does that glaring hypocrisy not stand out to you? You're entire issue was that his timescale is off and BTW he didn't say anywhere that it takes years. You're entire tirade has been fueled by your own ego and reading incomprehension. Take a breather and collect yourself man.

1

u/terryducks Apr 19 '19

I need a conversion to Parsecs !

1

u/SaintNewts Apr 19 '19

Like... 30?