A Stellar Theory
Lost in Space
A report by:
RAdm. RM Wey
COSR: SFS-SFC
A once inviolate theory on the death of a massive star has become the hotbed of the cosmological society. For research conducted in the death Sanduleak -69º202[now referred to as SN1987A], expected to find a 'neutron star' where the once mighty stellar body had been. To date, such a remnant has never been found. Now, neutron stars are the cinders of stellar bodies that have 'Blown Off' their outer gases in a titanic explosion. With consideration given to the size of the body before its demise, such was the expected outcome. Another possibility was put forth, that of the stellar body collapsing into a 'Black Hole.' Yet, if that had been the case, observation of the explosion would never have occurred [this being due to the titanic gravitational forces associated with a 'Black Hole'], because all of the energy would have been 'swallowed' by the collapsed star. However, the absence of a neutron remnant points only to the existence of a Black Hole. So, the question arises as to how this is possible. While the evolution of a neutron star [as well as a black hole] is apparent in the evolution of SN1987A; for all outward appearances, its behavior is quite consistent with the death of a common medium-sized star. For as it had spent all of its fuel, nuclear reaction ceases, and the stellar body begins to feel the effects of its gravity. Collapsing in on itself, the atoms continue to squeeze tighter and tighter together. This pattern continues until the creation of a Proto-Neutron star is born. Yet, in the case of SN1987A, this process continued, until it became so compressed as to be 1.e+15 times the density of water. At this point, the outer gases were being 'bounced' off and hurled into space. This is where the 'normal' outcome and what happened to SN1987A diverge. For instead of a neutron star, there is nothing. To explain this 'anomaly', it has been postulated that SN1987A's 'equation of state' [a term used to refer to the hardness or softness of the core of a black hole], is somewhat 'softer' than would be generally accepted. It is this 'softer' equation of state that would permit the existence of black holes from stars not previously massive enough to create them [which would then account for the many other stellar bodies which did not leave a neutron star behind]. However, to support this 'softer' equation, a theory was needed, it came in the form of kaon condensates. It was theorized that, when a stellar body collapses into the densities ascribed to black holes, that some of its particles were transmuted into kaons [which are described as very heavy, exotic particles which can have two or more occupying the same energy level at the same time]. Thus [because such particles do not obey the law in quantum mechanics known as the exclusion principle], such particles would form a Bose - Einstein condensate, and possess essentially zero temperature. It is due to the fact that, in the core of a neutron star, the potential exists for such a particle to exist. [particularly because the existence of such a particle would exert an attractive force on the surrounding neutrons]. As the energy needed to create a kaon lowers, this event becomes a possibility. And in quantum mechanics, possibility equal actuality…in other words…if it's possible, it is. Such kaons created in the lab do not exist for more than a fraction of the time required, but in a neutron star their stability would be held by their attraction to neutrons within the star. As particles collapse, they are transformed into neutrinos; as kaons are created, they release neutrinos. This heavy concentration of neutrinos becomes so dense, their production stops. However, since neutrinos obey the exclusion principle, there's a limit to how many can exist in one place at one time. In an ordinary star, neutrinos exit right away, but in a superdense core they must struggle to escape. It was calculated that it takes approximately ten seconds for neutrons to diffuse out of a dying star [hence the observation of the super novae's explosion], and though not the most picturesque of theories, it answers fundamental questions concerning the possibilities surrounding the existence [and creation] of black holes.
The Age of the System:Sol
A report by:
FComm. DL Wey
DCOSR: SFS-SFC
Research into the age of the Sol system has raised questions concerning just that. For while it is accepted that the system itself is several billion years old [approximately 4.5], what is not so clear is just when the planets themselves began to form. Tests run on meteorite fragments to gauge their content of a radioactive isotope of aluminum [an element common in the early formation of the Sol system] originally suggested an early first stage of formation for the system at a half - billion years. This in turn suggested the planets began to form just a couple of million years later. However, more recent analysis suggests that the Sol systems initial formation was achieved over a period of several million years [this due to a more thorough series of tests procuring more accurate results]. This radioactive isotope of aluminum is thought to have been essential in aiding the heating process of the interiors of the very first large body objects in the system. Such an isotope [having a half-life of 730,000 years] would now be a heavy isotope of magnesium. By measuring the amount of this isotope in a source of meteorite [the garden-variety chondrites], one should be able to determine how much of the aluminum isotope once existed. Either they would be of a class existing when such an isotope was common [in the early stages of the creation of the Sol system, or of a class when such an isotope was rare. That, of course, was the idea; However, test run on such meteorites found ranges of aluminum - magnesium ratios that varied as much as 2 to 5 million years. Meaning that the first stage of the Sol systems creation period was far longer than originally thought. Consequently, this altered the timetable of events surrounding the evolution of the creation of the planets that once existed, and that now exist in the system. However, with the advances being made in the sciences, we may yet [one day] know the accurate age of the place we call home.