<p>An extraordinary detection of the highest energy gamma rays from a dead star called Vela Pulsar has been made by&nbsp;scientists using the H.E.S.S. observatory in Namibia, as per an international team who made the announcement on October 5 in the journal Nature Astronomy. The gamma rays emitted by the dead star&nbsp;Vela Pulsar were found to possess an astonishing energy level of 20 tera-electronvolts, equivalent to around ten trillion times the energy of visible light.</p>

<h2><strong>What are Pulsars?</strong></h2>

<p>Pulsars are remnants of massive stars that underwent explosive supernova events. These explosions leave behind tiny, dense stars with diameters of approximately 20 kilometres.</p>

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<p>These dead stars, primarily composed of neutrons, are incredibly dense, with just a teaspoon of their material weighing more than five billion tonnes, roughly 900 times the mass of the Great Pyramid of Giza, H.E.S.S. scientist Emma de Oña Wilhelmi, a co-author of the study, reportedly said providing insights into the Pulsar.</p>

<h2><strong>Pulsars as cosmic lighthouses</strong></h2>

<p>Pulsars emit beams of electromagnetic radiation that rotate like cosmic lighthouses. When these beams cross our solar system, we observe periodic flashes of radiation, known as pulses.</p>

<p>“On their outward journey, the electrons acquire energy and release it in the form of the observed radiation beams,” said Bronek Rudak from the Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center (CAMK PAN) in Poland, also a co-author.</p>

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<p>The Vela pulsar, situated in the Southern sky within the constellation Vela, is the brightest pulsar in the radio portion of the electromagnetic spectrum and the most prominent source of cosmic gamma rays in the giga-electronvolts (GeV) range.</p>

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<p>It rotates around eleven times per second and was previously believed to cease emitting radiation above a few GeV, possibly because electrons reached the magnetosphere's edge and escaped.</p>

<p>Deep observations with H.E.S.S. unveiled a previously unknown radiation component at even higher energies, reaching tens of tera-electronvolts (TeV).&nbsp;</p>

<p>“That is about 200 times more energetic than all radiation ever detected before from this object,” said co-author Christo Venter from the North-West University in South Africa.&nbsp;</p>

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An extraordinary detection of the highest energy gamma rays from a dead star called Vela Pulsar has been made by scientists using the H.E.S.S. observatory in Namibia, as per an international team who made the announcement on October 5 in the journal Nature Astronomy.

An extraordinary detection of the highest energy gamma rays from a dead star called Vela Pulsar has been made by scientists using the H.E.S.S. observatory in Namibia, as per an international team who made the announcement on October 5 in the journal Nature Astronomy. The gamma rays emitted by the dead star Vela Pulsar were found to possess an astonishing energy level of 20 tera-electronvolts, equivalent to around ten trillion times the energy of visible light. What are Pulsars? Pulsars are remnants of massive stars that underwent explosive supernova events. These explosions leave behind tiny, dense stars with diameters of approximately 20 kilometres. Also Read | China's 'incredibly sensitive' space telescope will monitor universe's most violent explosions These dead stars, primarily composed of neutrons, are incredibly dense, with just a teaspoon of their material weighing more than five billion tonnes, roughly 900 times the mass of the Great Pyramid of Giza, H.E.S.S. scientist Emma de Oña Wilhelmi, a co-author of the study, reportedly said providing insights into the Pulsar. Pulsars as cosmic lighthouses Pulsars emit beams of electromagnetic radiation that rotate like cosmic lighthouses. When these beams cross our solar system, we observe periodic flashes of radiation, known as pulses. “On their outward journey, the electrons acquire energy and release it in the form of the observed radiation beams,” said Bronek Rudak from the Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center (CAMK PAN) in Poland, also a co-author. Also Read | Europeans would eat, not bury, their dead 15,000 years ago: Study The Vela pulsar, situated in the Southern sky within the constellation Vela, is the brightest pulsar in the radio portion of the electromagnetic spectrum and the most prominent source of cosmic gamma rays in the giga-electronvolts (GeV) range. Watch | Meta's AI-generated stickers spark controversy, generate explicit images × It rotates around eleven times per second and was previously believed to cease emitting radiation above a few GeV, possibly because electrons reached the magnetosphere's edge and escaped. Deep observations with H.E.S.S. unveiled a previously unknown radiation component at even higher energies, reaching tens of tera-electronvolts (TeV). “That is about 200 times more energetic than all radiation ever detected before from this object,” said co-author Christo Venter from the North-West University in South Africa. WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here. ×

Dead star Vela Pulsar emits highest-energy gamma rays

Gamma-ray bursts are so powerful they could vaporise the Earth from 200 light-years away. Gamma-ray bursts are thought to occur when a massive star runs out of nuclear fuel and its core collapses. Now, NASA has announced that on 9 October 2022, satellites detected an extremely bright gamma-ray signal that suddenly exploded from the constellation of sagitta; it lasted hundreds of seconds.

Could Gamma-ray burst kill off life on Earth?

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