Astronomers of the University of Boston university revealed the possible nature of the strange star LP 40-365, which flies through the galaxy at a speed of about two million kilometers per hour – this is enough to escape from the Milky Way. This object is a star remainder, which was previously located in a double system, but due to the outbreak of supernova, he received a powerful push. The results of the study are published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters magazine.
The running star residue is located at a distance of about 600 parses or two thousand light years and flies at a speed of about 600 kilometers per second. The object is also characterized by an unusual chemical composition and has a high metallicity, that is, it contains, mostly, only elements are heavier than hydrogen and helium, which are nuclear reaction products during the outbreak of supernova. Thus, LP 40-365 is a fragment of a star left after an explosion belonging to a supernova type IAX.
Astronomers analyzed the Hubble and Tess space telescope data and found that the object rotates, making one turn around the axis for nine hours. The relatively low rotational speed indicates that LP 40-365 is the white dwarf residue, which exploded after it took itself too much pulled from the companion star. Since both stars rotated close to each other, because of the explosion both stars flew apart from each other, and only the rest of one of them is visible.
Supernova type IAX (SN IAX) are the largest class of unusual (peculiar) supernovae generated by white dwarfs. They are characterized by relatively low luminosity and low emission rate, which optionally completely destroys the exploded star.