New hypothesis about a strange binary star system

Scientists have observed a neutron star in a binary star system called "Rapid Burster" and found that its magnetic field could explain the mystery of its own mysterious explosion 40 years ago.

Discovered in the 1970s, Rapid Burster is a binary star system consisting of a small star and a neutron star - a remnant after the collapse of a massive star.

The scientists found that the neutron star's magnetic field created a gap that wrapped around it and prevented matter from the companion star being sucked in.

Under certain conditions, the star's dust gas cannot escape through this void and accumulates back into the interior, gradually leading to an explosion and intense X-ray launch into space.

Rapid Burster is a typical star system for examining the type II light source.

The strong gravitational pull of the dust-absorbing neutron star of a companion star forms a spiral accretion disk toward the neutron star. This process causes most binary star systems to contain neutron stars that constantly shoot X-rays into space.

But Rapid Burster is a special source: At its greatest brightness, it emits type I light, the kind of light produced by nuclear reactions, mainly hydrogen.

Occasionally, Rapid Burster emits type II light , a type of high-energy light rarely seen in the universe.

"Rapid Burster is a typical star system for examining the type II light source. Currently, it is the only source of both detected types I and II ", the study's author, Jakob van den Eijnden currently working at the Astronomical Research Institute Anton Pannekoek in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, said.

Although it has been 40 years of searching, only one type II explosion was discovered outside Rapid Burster. It is the Bursting Pulsar binary system discovered in the 1990s.

Due to the scarcity of such phenomena in practice, even though the physical mechanisms that lead to the phenomenon are constantly put forward by scientists, nothing has been confirmed yet.