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A hypothesis for explaining the origin of Przybylski’s star (HD 101065)

  • Physics of Stars and Interstellar Medium
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Abstract

Many unidentified lines in the spectrum of Przybylski’s star (HD 101065) match well the spectral lines of radioactive elements, including the lines of short-lived isotopes. The origin of such isotopes in the atmosphere of the star remains unknown. We discuss a scenario in which some heavy nuclei of radioactive elements are produced in Przybylski’s star atmosphere as a result of its permanent exposure to the gamma flux (photon-nuclear reactions) or of the direct interaction of the free neutrons which arise in the atmosphere with seed nuclei of lighter elements (r-process). In both cases the gamma quanta and the free neutrons originate due to the presence of the neutron star which forms a close binary system with Przybylski’s star. This neutron star is the source of the fast electrons and positrons which produce gamma quanta when they are decelerated in their interaction with the atomic nuclei of the atmospheric plasma, while free neutrons can originate in the reactions of the direct capture of fast electrons by atmospheric protons (nuclei of hydrogen atoms).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Astronomical Observatory, Mechnikov Odessa National University, Park Shevchenko, Odessa, 65014, Ukraine

    V. F. Gopka & S. M. Andrievskii

  2. Radio Astronomy Institute, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Chervonopraporna vul. 4, Kharkiv, 61002, Ukraine

    O. M. Ul’yanov

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  1. V. F. Gopka
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  2. O. M. Ul’yanov
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  3. S. M. Andrievskii
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Correspondence to V. F. Gopka.

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Original Russian Text © V.F. Gopka, O.M. Ul’yanov, S.M. Andrievskii, 2008, published in Kinematika i Fizika Nebesnykh Tel, 2008, Vol. 24, No. 1, pp. 50–60.

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Gopka, V.F., Ul’yanov, O.M. & Andrievskii, S.M. A hypothesis for explaining the origin of Przybylski’s star (HD 101065). Kinemat. Phys. Celest. Bodies 24, 36–43 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11963-008-1005-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11963-008-1005-7

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