"Huge nuclear explosion in space is so rare we may never see one again (New Scientist). “Everything makes sense,” Mexican astronomer Dany Page reassures the public, but his proposed gargantuan “hyperburst” inside a star, releasing “more energy in a matter of milliseconds than our sun does in 100,000 years,” would have been “so deep inside the star it was undetectable.” What astronomers observed was a hotter-than-expected type of star that did not conform to theory.
The explosion seems to have taken place inside a strange
neutron star located 140,000 light-years from Earth called MAXI J0556–332. Neutron stars are the remnant cores of larger stars that have exploded in supernovas, leaving city-sized objects that contain up to twice the mass of our sun. MAXI J0556–332 was discovered in 2011, paired with another larger star. It has confused astronomers ever since, as it was twice the normal temperature of neutron stars when it was first spotted, though it has since cooled.
Page effectively replaced one “hand wavy” theory with another one. Aren’t astronomers supposed to observe things before making theories? In this case, they are trying not to observe them.
There might be an unusual way to test the idea: by never observing a hyperburst again. This would suggest Page’s idea for their rarity is correct. “You just really hope they don’t find another one now,” says Watts, a somewhat strange wish for a potentially new astronomical discovery." CEH
