“Hiccuping” star spotted

A team of astronomers (scientists A who study space) have found evidence of a “hiccuping” star. Stars have very long life cycles, ranging from a few million to trillions of years, and when stars that are much bigger than the Sun reach the end of their life, they explode in a burst of light called a supernova. Astronomers had previously suggested that some massive stars sometimes experience something called “pulsational pair instability” (PPI) before they explode. PPI happens when the middle of the star, known as the core, gets very hot and starts pulsing (rapidly getting bigger and smaller). These pulses are said to be like hiccups. Every time the core pulses, the star throws out material. Sometimes, these materials crash into each other, creating bright bursts of light. In…

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The Week Junior (UK) (Digital) - 1 Issue, 474

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