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    ‘Cosmic Cannibals’ Expel Jets into Space at 40 percent the Speed of Light

    March 30, 2024, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Artist's impression of neutron star jet
    Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets
    File name:     Burst_jet_concept_v10_final.jpg
    Credit: Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam. License CC BY-SA 3.0

    For the first time, astronomers have measured the speed of fast-moving jets in space, crucial to star formation and the distribution of elements needed for life.

    The jets of matter, expelled by stars deemed ‘cosmic cannibals’, were measured to travel at over one-third of the speed of light — thanks to a groundbreaking new experiment published in Nature today.

    The study sheds new light on these violent processes, making clever use of runaway nuclear explosions on the surface of stars.

    Co-Author Jakob van den Eijnden, Warwick Prize Fellow at the Department of Physic...

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