This bizarre object is FASTER than light? What did NASA Hubble Space Telescope catch? | Tech News

This bizarre object is FASTER than light? What did NASA Hubble Space Telescope catch?

NASA Hubble Space Telescope thought it spotted something that should not exist, which was travelling at a mind-altering rate 7 times faster than light!

By: HT TECH
| Updated on: Oct 21 2022, 19:07 IST
Know the 5 biggest stars in the universe!
Neutron star collision
1/5 UY Scuti- Located 9500 light-years away from Earth, the UY Scuti is a hypergiant, which a rare star with extremely high luminosity, size and mass. It is the largest star in the universe and can be found outside of Scutum, approximately 4.5 degrees southwest from Alpha Scuti. First catalogued in 1860, the UY Scuti’s mass is 23.0 solar masses and it is actually 47 percent cooler than the Sun and it belongs to the constellation Scutum. It has a radius of 1,708 solar radii. (NASA )
Neutron star collision
2/5 V766 Centauri Aa- The V766 Centauri Aa is a hypergiant part of the Centaurus constellation and is located approximately 4,900 to 11,700 light-years away from Earth. It has a solar mass of 13.0 and the V766 Centauri Aa is 21 percent cooler than the sun. It has a radius of approximately 1,492 solar radii. (NASA)
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3/5 KY Cygni- The KY Cygni can be located below the crossbeam of the Northern Cross asterism, 5000 light-years away from Earth. It is part of the Cygnus constellation and has a staggering diameter of 1.976 billion km. The KY Cygni was first discovered in 1930 and was recognized as a red supergiant and has a radius of 1,420 solar radii. (NASA)
Neutron star collision
4/5 AH Scorpii- The AH Scorpii is part of the constellation Scorpius and is located above the Fishhook asterism. The AH Scorpii has a smaller mass of 1.2 solar masses compared to other stars and it is approximately 40 percent cooler than the Sun. It has a radius of approximately 1,411 solar radii (NASA)
Neutron star collision
5/5 VV Cephei- The VV Cephei is part of the Cepheus constellation and is located near the bottom of the constellation. The VV Cephei is a red-orange supergiant with a mass of 13.0 solar masses and is 21 percent cooler than the Sun. It has a radius of 1,329.62 solar radii. (NASA)
Neutron star collision
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Collision of two neutron stars has released something that NASA Hubble Telescope thought was 7 times faster than the speed of light. But what was the truth? (Representative Photo) (Pixabay)

On Earth, we have created some really fast objects. For instance, the speed of a bullet out of a gun can be as high as 4,200 kilometers per hour, which is three times the speed of sound. But it is not even the fastest thing. The fastest man-made object would be the NASA Parker Solar Probe spacecraft which reached a speed of 535,000 kilometers per hour using the Sun's gravity! Now, that is fast. But you would be surprised to know that it is just 0.05% of the speed of light (300,000 kilometers per second). So, you can imagine just how fast light really is. And till now, it was surmised that nothing can travel faster than light. But the NASA Hubble Space Telescope spotted and measured a rare object which is 7 times faster than the speed of light. How could this be? Read on to find out the truth.

What did the NASA Hubble Space Telescope actually see

This extremely unique event took place in 2017. Astronomers witnessed the collision of two neutron stars. To give you an idea of just how rare this event is, you should know that only one in a thousand stars becomes a neutron star. And two such stars to come in close proximity and collide against each other is nothing short of a miraculous event. But in 2017 this is exactly what happened.

The jet radiation that emerged from that collision was so powerful that back then, NASA had compared it to a supernova explosion itself. But that is not the most shocking thing. These jets are also known as experimental signatures of Quark and Gillions in particle physics. When the jet from this particular event, GW170817, was measured using the NASA Hubble Space Telescope, the telescope's findings were something that was impossible. It said that the jet moved 7 times faster than the speed of light.

Can anything move faster than light?

But this was a problem. A big problem. According to Albert Einstein's theory of relativity, nothing can actually travel faster than light. And yes, Einstein was right.

Later studies revealed that this faster than speed of light object was only an illusion! This happened because the direction of the jet was approaching the Earth directly nearly at the speed of light. Because of that, the light it emitted later had a shorter distance to go. In simple terms, the light was simply chasing its tail, and this would not be apparent to an observer on Earth who may find the jet traveling at a speed exceeding that of light. This illusion is known as the superluminal motion illusion.

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First Published Date: 21 Oct, 19:06 IST
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