The Pittsburgh Press (February 10, 1946)
Atomic explosion of star excites world’s scientists
Valuable help in research expected from blast millions of times bigger than bomb
WILLIAMS BAY, Wisconsin (UP, Feb. 9) – An atomic explosion that occurred 1,000 years ago – and millions of times more powerful than the most devastating atom bomb – was discovered today in an outburst of a star in the eastern sky.
The explosion of the star, known as T Coronae Borealis, was observed at the Yerks Observatory here. With proper atmospheric conditions, the phenomena may be observed again in the eastern sky after 1 a.m. EST.
Astronomers throughout the world were alerted to watch for the phenomena which Dr. Otto Struve, Yerkes Observatory director, and may be of the highest importance and which might prove valuable in atomic research.
He said the explosion essentially is the same release of atomic energy, magnified millions of times, as that which occurred August 6, 1945, when the U.S. Air Force dropped an atomic bomb, leveling Hiroshima, Japan. The explosion in the heavens is the result of internal gases bursting through the outer crust of the star at the rate of 3,000 miles per second.
Dr. Struve said the explosion may show more brilliant tonight. The star T exploded at least once before – as observed in 1866 – but little was known of that explosion because only few records were made of it and the star itself gradually faded until it was scarcely visible.
Star T returned to the limelight today when Armin Deutsch, an assistant at the observatory, was attracted by its brilliance while looking into the sky at 3:30 a.m. EST, without a telescope.
He rushed to a lens, believing he had found a new star but found the star T blossoming out. The outburst he saw occurred hundreds of years ago, possibly 1000, Dr. Struve said. It would take that long, he explained, for the flash to travel through universal space to the earth.
See tremendous blast
Prof. William W. Morgan of the observatory staff and Guido Munch, a Mexican astronomer studying here, assisted Mr. Deutsch in photographing the phenomenon through a 40-inch telescope. They observed in the spectra a tremendous explosion and an outpouring of overheated gases from the interior of the star.
They said the star’s action tonight will indicate whether it will continue to hold interest of lay observers or whether it was just a “flash in the pan” as far as public spectacles go. But for the experts, they said, star T already has furnished enough visual and photographic data for months, perhaps even years, of study.
Star T is located a little south of the star Epsilon and in the same constellation.
“Observations made of this new star may be extremely important in the interpretations of star and the atomic outburst may aid in further atomic information,” Dr. Struve said.
At Cambridge, Massachusetts, Dr. Donald H. Henzel, professor of astrophysics at Harvard, described the discovery as “very exciting.”
“There have been several other cases, but this is the longest time between two explosions of the same star,” he said. “In fact, these stars rarely blow up a second time.”