ESO: Cosmic Serpent Sculpted by Colliding Stellar Winds

[bystander]

Cosmic Serpent
ESO Photo Release | VLT | VISIR | 2018 Nov 19

VLT Captures Details of an Elaborate Serpentine System Sculpted by Colliding Stellar Winds

Coils of Apep ~ Credit: ESO/VLT/VISIR/Callingham et al

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The VISIR instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope has captured this stunning image of a newly discovered massive triple star system. Nicknamed Apep after an ancient Egyptian deity, this may be the first ever gamma-ray burst progenitor found.

This serpentine swirl, captured by the VISIR instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), has an explosive future ahead of it; it is a Wolf-Rayet star system, and a likely source of one of the most energetic phenomena in the Universe — a long-duration gamma-ray burst (GRB). ...

The system, which comprises a nest of massive stars surrounded by a “pinwheel” of dust, is officially known only by unwieldy catalogue references like 2XMM J160050.7-514245. However, the astronomers chose to give this fascinating object a catchier moniker — “Apep”. ...

Some of the most massive stars evolve into Wolf-Rayet stars towards the end of their lives. This stage is short-lived, and Wolf-Rayets survive in this state for only a few hundred thousand years — the blink of an eye in cosmological terms. In that time, they throw out huge amounts of material in the form of a powerful stellar wind, hurling matter outwards at millions of kilometres per hour; Apep’s stellar winds were measured to travel at an astonishing 12 million km/h.

These stellar winds have created the elaborate plumes surrounding the triple star system — which consists of a binary star system and a companion single star bound together by gravity. Though only two star-like objects are visible in the image, the lower source is in fact an unresolved binary Wolf-Rayet star. This binary is responsible for sculpting the serpentine swirls surrounding Apep, which are formed in the wake of the colliding stellar winds from the two Wolf-Rayet stars. ...

Cosmic Serpent Reveals New Way Massive Stars Die
Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON) | 2018 Nov 19

Riding the Serpent: The Discovery and Study of Apep
Nature Research: Astronomy | Joseph R. Callingham | 2018 Nov 10

Anisotropic Winds in Wolf-Rayet Binary Identify Potential Gamma-Ray Burst Progenitor ~ J. R. Callingham et al

• Nature Astronomy (online 19 Nov 2018) DOI: 10.1038/s41550-018-0617-7 (preprint)

[neufer]

Apep/Apophis being warded off by a deity.

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Henry Peacham's Minerva Britanna (1612)

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<<Apep or Apophis was the ancient Egyptian deity who embodied chaos and was thus the opponent of light and Ma'at (order/truth). He appears in art as a giant serpent.

Ra was the solar deity, bringer of light, and thus the upholder of Ma'at. Apep was viewed as the greatest enemy of Ra, and thus was given the title Enemy of Ra, and also "the Lord of Chaos".

Apep was seen as a giant snake or serpent leading to such titles as Serpent from the Nile and Evil Lizard. Some elaborations said that he stretched 16 yards in length and had a head made of flint.

The few descriptions of Apep's origin in myth usually demonstrate that it was born after Ra, usually from his umbilical cord. This suggests that evil in Egyptian theology is the consequence of an individual's own struggles against non-existence.

Tales of Apep's battles against Ra were elaborated during the New Kingdom. Storytellers said that every day Apep must lie just below the horizon. This appropriately made him a part of the underworld.It was thought that his terrifying roar would cause the underworld to rumble. Myths sometimes say that Apep was trapped there, because he had been the previous chief god overthrown by Ra, or because he was evil and had been imprisoned.

The Coffin Texts imply that Apep used a magical gaze to overwhelm Ra and his entourage.

In an annual rite, called the Banishing of Chaos, priests would build an effigy of Apep that was thought to contain all of the evil and darkness in Egypt, and burn it to protect everyone from Apep's evil for another year.

The Egyptian priests had a detailed guide to fighting Apep, referred to as The Books of Overthrowing Apep (or the Book of Apophis, in Greek). The chapters described a gradual process of dismemberment and disposal, and include:

• Spitting Upon Apep
  Defiling Apep with the Left Foot
  Taking a Lance to Smite Apep
  Fettering Apep
  Taking a Knife to Smite Apep
  Putting Fire Upon Apep