Latest news with #MiroslavFilipović
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
'One of the most geometrically perfect': What is this mysterious sphere deep in the Milky Way galaxy?
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. There's no shortage of round celestial objects in our universe. Planets, moons and stars all exhibit lovely spherical shapes. But astronomers recently spotted a mysteriously circular orb deep in the Milky Way galaxy — and it's certainly none of these things. This celestial bubble, discovered by astrophysicist Miroslav Filipović of Western Sydney University, is likely a supernova remnant (SNR), an expanding shell of gas and dust formed by shockwaves from a massive stellar explosion. SNRs aren't uncommon, but this particular example showcases numerous anomalies, including its astonishingly round shape. For that shape, Filipović and his team named SNR Teleios, the Greek word for "perfect." Filipović discovered Teleios — officially designated G305.4–2.2 — by accident, scanning through new images taken by the radio telescope Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP). ASKAP is currently surveying the entire southern hemisphere sky. "I was looking at these images as they became available, searching for anything interesting, or not seen before, and came across Teleios," Filipović told "Its perfectly circular shape was unusual, and so I investigated further." Using data from ASKAP and the Murchison Widefield Array, Filipović and his team estimate that Teleios spans either about 46 light-years across at a distance of about 7,175 light-years from Earth, or about 157 light-years across at a distance of about 25,114 light-years from Earth. (Judging such vast distances in space is difficult.) Regardless of the size and distance of Teleios, though, the SNR's near-perfect symmetry is extraordinary. Its shape was quantified with a circularity score of 95.4%, placing it among the most symmetric known SNRs. While idealized models suggest SNRs remnants should be circular, reality often paints a more chaotic picture. "'Typical' SNR shapes vary dramatically, either from asymmetries in the initial explosion, or disruption from expanding into a non-perfect environment, or a number of other interfering factors," says Filipović. "What makes Teleios' shape so remarkable is that it displays none of these asymmetries; it effectively looks like an explosion that has happened with almost perfect initial parameters and with almost no disruption while expanding." So, what could explain such an undisturbed evolution? According to Filipović, it likely comes down to location. Teleios lies 2.2 degrees below the Galactic Plane, where interstellar gas and dust are significantly more sparse. This environment may have allowed the remnant to expand while remaining largely undisturbed for thousands of years. Teleios' shape is only one of the unusual characteristics of this SNR. Adding to the mystery, Teleios emits only in radio wavelengths, with a hint of hydrogen-alpha emissions. "Most SNRs are visible at another frequency. They either emit at optical, infrared, or X-ray frequencies as well," says Filipović. "The fact that we don't see that here is quite confusing. It could be that the temperatures are not high enough to produce this emission, or that Teleios is old enough that the optical emission has faded, but the radio emission is still present." Related Stories: — Hundreds of supernova remnants remain hidden in our galaxy. These astronomers want to find them— Mysterious cosmic lights turn out to be 2 undiscovered supernova remnants— Watch 2 gorgeous supernova remnants evolve over 20 years (timelapse video) This lack of emissions poses challenges to determining the type of supernova that produced Teleios. The most likely scenario is a Type Ia supernova, which occurs in binary star systems in which a white dwarf consumes enough mass of its companion star to explode violently. Alternatively, Teleios' origin might be Type Iax supernova, which is similar to a Type Ia supernova but one that leaves behind a "zombie" star. But Teleios's observable data doesn't fit either model perfectly. As it goes with newfound objects in the universe, researchers have a lot more to study to unravel all of Teleios's mysteries. Fortunately, there's no better time to study SNRs. "These are the 'golden days' for radio astronomy as the new instruments, such as ASKAP and MeerKAT, are opening windows for new discoveries," says Filipović. A paper on the findings has been submitted to the Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, and is presently available on preprint server arXiv.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Astronomers Spot a Strangely Perfect Sphere Thousands of Light-Years Away
Here's what you'll learn in this story. Scientists using radio wavelength data from the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) spotted a strangely symmetrical sphere located thousands of light-years away. The 'sphere' is likely the result of a Type 1a supernova shockwave, though astronomers aren't sure exactly how far away the this supernova remnant is from Earth—either 7,175 light-years or 25,114 light-years. Regardless of this distance discrepancy, the near-perfect spherical nature of the remnant gives scientists the opportunity to learn more about one of the most energetic events in the universe. The amount humanity has learned about the cosmos in just the past century is truly staggering. A little over a century ago, American astronomer Edwin Hubble announced to the world that the Milky Way was actually just one galaxy among many in the known universe. Now, we know the universe contains hundreds of billions—if not trillions—of galaxies, and engineers have developed space-based telescopes capable of spying some of the oldest ones in existence. Of course, that doesn't mean mysteries don't remain—both large and small. On the big side of the equation, dark matter and dark energy remain perplexing conundrums, but science's array of detectors often posit smaller puzzles. One such mystery is the curious case of supernova remnant (SNR) G305.4–2.2, nicknamed Teleios. A Greek word meaning 'perfect,' Telelios references the near-perfect symmetry of what appears to be a sphere of ejected star material—aka a supernova remnant. Initially captured by the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), Teleios's origin isn't the real head-scratcher. Instead, scientists like Miroslav Filipović, an astrophysicist from Western Sydney University in Australia, are more perplexed by its near-perfect shape, an extreme rarity for such an SNR throughout the universe. 'The supernova remnant will be deformed by its environment over time,' Filipovic, along with a cadre of other Australian astrophysicists, wrote in an article on The Conversation in March. 'If one side of the explosion slams into an interstellar cloud, we'll see a squashed shape. So, a near-perfect circle in a messy universe is a special find.' In an analysis submitted to the Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia and published on the preprint server arXiv, Filipović—the lead author of the study—and his team discovered that Teleios only glows faintly in radio wavelengths. Armed with this information, the astronomers could reasonably deduce that Telelios originated from a Type 1a supernova, which typically form from binary star systems where one of the stars is a white dwarf. Because these types of supernovae are consistent in their peak brightness, astronomers have used them for decades to measure cosmic distances (with none other than the Hubble telescope among others). However, in this instance, astronomers haven't been able to quite nail down Teleios's exact distance, but they've drawn up three best guesses. If it is the results of a Type 1a supernova, then its likely that this symmetrical mystery is either 7,175 light-years or 25,114 light-years away, making the sphere either 46 light-years across or 157 light-years across, respectively. This distance also reflects its age, meaning it's either less than 1,000 years old or greater than 10,000 years old. So, lots of room for further exploration. The study also posits the idea that it could be a Type 1ax supernova where the supernova instead leaves behind a 'zombie star' remnant, according to Live Science. However, in this scenario, the supernova would be only 3,262 light-years away and around 11 light-years across. Whatever the scenario, Teleios—which is just one of the many interesting things discovered by ASKAP—still presents a remarkable opportunity to learn more about supernovae. 'This presents us with an opportunity to make inferences about the initial supernova explosion, providing rare insight into one of the most energetic events in the universe,' Filipovic co-authors in The Conversation. In 100 years from now, who knows what the universe might look like to our 22nd-century enlightened minds. You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Mysteriously Perfect Sphere Spotted in Space by Astronomers
Our Milky Way galaxy is home to some extremely weird things, but a new discovery has astronomers truly baffled. In data collected by a powerful radio telescope, astronomers have found what appears to be a perfectly spherical bubble. We know more or less what it is – it's the ball of expanding material ejected by an exploding star, a supernova remnant – but how it came to be is more of a puzzle. A large international team led by astrophysicist Miroslav Filipović of Western Sydney University in Australia has named the object Teleios, after the ancient Greek for "perfection". After an exhaustive review of the possibilities, the researchers conclude that we're going to need more information to understand how this object formed. Their analysis has been submitted to the Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, and is available on preprint server arXiv. The Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) has been uncovering a trove of peculiar circles of various kinds in the sky as part of its Evolutionary Map of the Universe (EMU) survey. Some of them at intergalactic distances have been a little difficult to figure out, like the famous Odd Radio Circles (ORCS). Teleios, located within the Milky Way, has a different origin story than the ORCS found across the deep cosmos, but even though it is closer and therefore smaller, an inability to narrow down exactly how far away it is has proven a significant barrier to understanding its origin. Filipović and his colleagues conducted a thorough analysis of the object, and found that it glows faintly only in radio wavelengths. The wavelength of its glow revealed it most likely to be the remnant of a Type Ia supernova – one of the brightest types of supernova in the Universe. These supernovae occur when a white dwarf in a close binary orbit with a companion star slurps up so much material from said companion that it exceeds its mass limit and explodes. So far, so straightforward. But working out distances to things in space is surprisingly quite difficult. The researchers were able to work out estimates for the distance to Teleios, but couldn't narrow it down beyond two options – around 7,175 light-years, and around 25,114 light-years. As you can imagine, both of these distances would mean different things for the evolutionary history of Teleios. Because things look smaller the farther away they are, the two distances would yield vastly different sizes for the bubble. At the nearer distance, the supernova remnant would be 46 light-years across. At the greater distance, it would be 157 light-years across. A supernova remnant often consists of an expanding cloud of material – so each of these sizes suggests a different age for the remnant. The closer distance suggests a younger supernova remnant that has had less time to grow, less than 1,000 years. At the greater distance, it would have to be more than 10,000 years old. The problem with both of these scenarios is that evolutionary models of Type Ia supernovae predict there should also be X-rays. The lack of X-rays is a bit of a head-scratcher. Another possibility is that Teleios is the remnant of a Type Iax supernova, a kind of Type Ia supernova that doesn't destroy the white dwarf entirely, but leaves behind a 'zombie' star remnant. This neatly fits Teleios's emission properties, but it would need to be a lot closer, around 3,262 light-years away. This scenario would mean Teleios is a bit smaller, about 11 light-years across. There's even a star at that distance that could be a candidate for the zombie star… but none of the other independent measurements of the distance to Teleios find that it could be that close. All these other issues make the unusual issue of the remnant's near-perfect symmetry fade into the background a little. Supernova remnants are almost always asymmetrical in some way. The explosion itself may be asymmetrical; the expanding material may push into interstellar gas or dust that was already hanging out nearby; and eventually, the shell will expand enough to start to fragment. However, if the supernova is symmetrical and takes place in an empty enough region of space, it can expand symmetrically. It just hasn't yet reached the point of fragmentation. It's a rare sight, but not an impossible one. That makes Teleios pretty nifty, really. We're just going to need to look at it a bit more to work out its story. "We have made an exhaustive exploration of the possible evolutionary state of the supernova based on its surface brightness, apparent size and possible distances," the researchers write. "All possible scenarios have their challenges, especially considering the lack of X-ray emission that is expected to be detectable given our evolutionary modelling. While we deem the Type Ia scenario the most likely, we note that no direct evidence is available to definitively confirm any scenario and new sensitive and high-resolution observations of this object are needed." Their paper can be read on arXiv. The Most Violent Solar Storm Ever Detected Hit Earth in 12350 BCE Dark Matter Could Be Evolving, And The Implications Are Profound Kosmos 482's Final Descent Captured in One Haunting Image
