A NASA study released in early April attempted to explain something in outer space that is breaking the laws of physics.
Astronomers first identified ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs), which exude roughly 10 million times more energy than our sun, in a study published in 2022. The objects were described by NASA as being more than 100 times brighter than the laws of physics should allow them to be, but astronomers were hoping the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) X-ray telescope would offer solutions to this bizarre occurrence.
Alas, NuSTAR observations confirmed that at least one specific ULX, called M82 X-2 (a neutron star), is definitely too bright to fit with the physical law called the Eddington limit. This limit determines how bright something can be based on its size. Those items that exceed the limit are expected to blow into pieces, according to LiveScience.
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But ULX “regularly exceed this limit by 100 to 500 times, leaving scientists puzzled,” NASA noted in its statement.
Theories over why M82 X-2 is breaking the Eddington limit involve intense magnetic fields around the neutron star, which may change the shape of its atoms. This would allow the star to stick together and get increasingly more bright.
“These observations let us see the effects of these incredibly strong magnetic fields that we could never reproduce on Earth with current technology,” study author Matteo Bachetti said in a statement regarding the research. “This is the beauty of astronomy … we cannot really set up experiments to get quick answers; we have to wait for the universe to show us its secrets.” (RELATED: Stephen Hawking Had One Clear Warning About Aliens. Scientists Are Ignoring It)
ULXs are not the only strange thing happening in space that has scientists stumped. In May 2022, “something weird” was uncovered in our cosmos, related to the universe’s expansion rate that defied the law of physics.