“Cocoons” formed during massive dying stars eject debris, possibly emitting gravitational waves, according to researcherswho presented their research at the 242nd meeting of the American astronomical Company.

The research is being led by Orre Gottlieb of Northwestern University’s Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA). Among the authors of the study is Greek astrophysicist and director of CIERA Vicky Kalogera.

So far, astrophysicists have only detected gravitational waves from binary systems, black hole mergers, or two neutron stars. Although in theory astrophysicists should be able to detect gravitational waves from a single non-binary source, they have not yet discovered these signals. Now researchers at Northwestern University are proposing a new, unexpected, and completely unexplored place to look at: turbulent, energetic cocoons surrounding dying massive stars.

The researchers used state-of-the-art simulations to simulate the collapse of a massive star. When these stars collapse into black holes, they can create powerful streams (or jets) of particles moving at close to the speed of light. The simulation modeled this process from the moment the star collapsed to the exit of the jet.

“When I was calculating gravitational waves from the region of a black hole, I discovered another source that interrupted my calculations – a cocoon. I tried to ignore it, but found it impossible to ignore it. Then I realized that the cocoon was an interesting source of gravitational waves,” says Ore Gottlieb. In fact, as noted in the study, the LIGO Gravitational Wave Observatory, with its laser interferometer, can detect these gravitational waves.

Mr. Gottlieb notes that “our study is a call to the community to consider cocoons as a source of gravitational waves,” adding: “By studying them, we could learn more about what happens inside stars, about the properties of jets and their prevalence. in stellar explosions.

^{Source: APE-MEB}