Big Kaboom<\/p>\n
Stars with a certain deadly elemental cocktail in their cores could be doomed to suffer an early demise.<\/p>\n
If a star forms enough neon, a rare and poorly-understood chemical reaction can trigger a star-killing thermonuclear blast, Gizmodo reports. The unusual phenomenon can explain why some stars detonate and collapse into white dwarves instead of continuing to live.<\/p>\n
If a star has a core rich with neon, magnesium, and oxygen, the neon atoms can sometimes gobble up extra elections, according to research published in the journal Physical Review Letters. This triggers a nuclear reaction that detonates all of the cores oxygen, turning the entire star into a gigantic nuclear bomb.<\/p>\n
Whats remarkable is that its a singular nuclear transition, and a very rare transition that you normally neglect, lead researcher, Oliver Kirsebom of Dalhousie University, told Gizmodo. Under the specific conditions in these stars, it could have a profound effect on the evolution.<\/p>\n
What Kirsebom means by that is that these explosions can happen before a star grows and develops the intense, crushing density normally associated with the end of its stellar life cycle.<\/p>\n
That may explain why younger, smaller stars sometimes detonate and turn into white dwarves before their time and instead of becoming the neutron stars that usually originate from a supernova.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: How Neon Can Make a Star Destroy Itself [Gizmodo]<\/p>\n
More on stars: Scientists Just Found a Dead Star Lodged Inside Another Star<\/p>\n
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See the article here: <\/p>\n
Poison in the Hearts of Stars Can Make Them Explode - Futurism<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Big Kaboom Stars with a certain deadly elemental cocktail in their cores could be doomed to suffer an early demise. If a star forms enough neon, a rare and poorly-understood chemical reaction can trigger a star-killing thermonuclear blast, Gizmodo reports. The unusual phenomenon can explain why some stars detonate and collapse into white dwarves instead of continuing to live. Continue reading