Astronomers from the University of Liverpool. John Moores observed the outbreak of a nova (nova) – a star whose brightness increases sharply and slowly returns to its original state. This turned out to be the most “orphaned” of the new ones discovered – it is 150 thousand away from its parent galaxy, the Andromeda Nebula.. light years. No new ones have yet been observed at such a range.
Image source: AI generation Kandinsky 2.2 / 3DNews
The outbreak of a new star is accompanied by the release of a huge amount of energy. It is the result of an accretion process in a close binary system containing a white dwarf and its companion.. A white dwarf in a close binary system pulls its partner's matter onto itself before triggering a thermonuclear reaction, which results in an explosion. Studying new ones is of great importance for expanding our knowledge of fundamental astrophysical processes, including the evolution of stars. That’s why it was so important to observe the behavior of the new AT 2023prq, discovered on August 15, 2023 by the Transient Search Facility.. Zwicky Transient Facility.
The observations were carried out by astronomers Michael Healy-Kalesh and Daniel Perley.. They used both the university's telescope and obtained observational data from other instruments. Based on the data obtained, scientists concluded that the new AT 2023prq belongs to the classic new ones. Its absolute peak magnitude reached magnitude -7.6. What came as a surprise, the brightness dropped by two units in just less than four days. It usually falls for many weeks, because behind the phenomenon of increasing brightness lies a real thermonuclear explosion of matter on a white dwarf.
On the right is the parent galaxy of the Andromeda Nebula, on the left is the desired nova. Image source: Research Notes of the AAS (2023). DOI: 10.3847/2515-5172/ad0a99
Another surprise was that the nova found itself 150 thousand light years away from its parent galaxy. Its home galaxy is the Andromeda Nebula. Formally, the new AT 2023prq is in its halo. This is the most distant nova of all novae observed so far.. There will definitely be something for scientists to think about when analyzing data about the star and the processes accompanying its outburst.