Twilight News Edition 534
Edition 534, 8th September 2023
ASTRONOMERS CAPTURE A STAR BEING CONSUMED BY A BLACK HOLE
By Annika Jain
A star, similar to the sun, has been spotted by astronomers, currently being “repeatedly shredded and consumed” by a black hole. The star is 500 million light years away from us, and was observed by scientists from the University of Leicester.
Generally, black hole outbursts, which are also known as tidal disruption events, occur when a star gets consumed by a black hole. However, in this instance, repeated emissions mean that the star is getting destroyed again and again, part by part.
Such events, involving repeated eruptions, two types of outburst take place — those that occur every year, and those that happen every few hours. According to the team of scientists, this particular star falls in between these two extremes, since it shreds every twenty-five days.
As per the observations, the star, known as Swift J0230, shone brightly for seven to ten days, and then switched off abruptly, repeating the process every twenty-five days.
Dr. Phil Evans of the same university, and the lead author of this study, said, “This is the first time we’ve seen a star like our sun being repeatedly shredded and consumed by a low-mass black hole.”
HONG KONG AND CHINA FACE HEAVIEST RAIN IN 140 YEARS
By Anaya Bedi
This Thursday, cities of Hong Kong and southern China experienced a downfall unmatched by any rainstorm in the last 140 years. Streets and subways were submerged under water, schools and offices were shut down and rescue missions have sent over 100 people to hospital rooms.
Starting on Thursday night, the rain flooded shopping plazas and public transport. People were seen standing on cars to elevate themselves above the water, rising over a metre high in some places. The downpour triggered landslides in the mountainous regions of Hong Kong while harbour tunnels near the northern Kowloon peninsula were swamped. Authorities in Hong Kong triggered a black warning for the 158.1mm of hourly rainfall, the highest recorded since 1884. However, over 200mm was later recorded in the north-eastern part of the city from 6:00 pm local time to midnight.
Flights were suspended in the Guangdong area and citizens in low-lying regions were advised to evacuate. On Thursday night, Shenzhen dispensed water from its reservoirs into Hong Kong, and many citizens were left wondering if this aggravated the flooding of their own city. Hong Kong’ security chief Chris Tang later clarified on Friday that the action placed no impact and was safe for Shenzhen and Hong Kong
This Friday night, the black warning was demoted to an amber alert as showers ease, but the rainstorm is expected to last till Saturday. This shower has hit the area less than a week after two typhoons–Haikui and Saola–hit the southern part of China.
Many believe the rains are a byproduct of climate change, which has increased the number and intensity of natural disasters around the world.