Astronomers have discovered a stellar object previously considered hypothetical in the Small Magellanic Cloud

    Using 6.5-meter optical telescopes at the Las Campas Observatory in Chile, astronomers discovered the red super giant HV 2112, the spectrum of which is very different from that typical of stars of this class. It best fits the spectrum of the exotic binary system predicted by astrophysicists Kip Thorne and Anna Zhitkov in 1977. Thorn-Zhitkov ObjectIt is a close binary system of a red supergiant and a neutron star. The unusual feature of this object is that the neutron star in this system, as a result of deceleration against the outer layers of the supergiant, loses speed and rapidly falls into it along a spiral path. Due to the huge temperature and gravity at the surface of a neutron star, the supergiant substance surrounding it enters into unusual thermonuclear reactions, generating an excess of lithium and relatively heavy elements such as rubidium and molybdenum.

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    Thorn-Zhitkov objects are extremely rare, since they arise only in very heavy and close binary systems, and are only one of the stages of stellar evolution, which lasts for a very short time. From the moment the neutron star decelerates against the outer layers of the supergiant to its stop in the core of the companion, only a thousand years pass. A month later, two stars finally merge into a single whole. After that, the Thorn-Zhitkov object collapses into a black hole or a neutron star, depending on the mass.

    The star HV 2112 is by far the most likely candidate for the title of the Thorn-Zhitkov object - its spectrum is very slightly different from the theory predicted. No other hypothesis known today can explain the anomalous spectrum of a star. Now theorists have to finalize the model taking into account the obtained experimental data - if this succeeds, HV 2112 will receive an “official” confirmation of their belonging to one of the most exotic classes of star systems.

    The opening article is published on arxiv.org and is available for free download.


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