Space balloon takes off researching supernovae, black holes and fast-spinning stars.

Space balloon takes off

A massive 300-metre-long scientific balloon is on its way from Alice Springs to Queensland for research purposes. It was launched from Alice Springs’ old airport site to carry testing equipment to the edge of space.

The white balloon will reach the outer limit of the stratosphere, where it will undertake high-energy astrophysics experiments as it travels at 50 metres per second in freezing winds.

The flight is carrying equipment that weighs about 2.5 tonnes to a height of 40km.

By the time the balloon reaches the low air pressure regions at the edge of the earth’s atmosphere it will have expanded to the size of the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

The instruments will look for x-rays and gamma-rays coming from exploding stars, or supernovae, black holes and fast-spinning stars.

After massive stars have finished burning their nuclear fuel, they undergo a supernova explosion. This explosion blows off the outer layers of a star into a beautiful supernova remnant. The central region of the star collapses under gravity and gamma-ray bursts occur. It collapses so much that protons and electrons combine to form neutrons. Hence the name “neutron star” or black hole forms at the star’s core, triggering a massive explosion that destroys the rest of the star.

At one stage astronomers were perplexed by sources of incredibly regular radio emissions they detected; they first thought they could be transmissions from extraterrestrial civilisations. Astronomers later determined that they were Pulsars (short for “pulsating star”) which were actually rapidly spinning neutron stars that emitted the pulsing radio signals as a beam of radiation, much like a lighthouse.

Fast-spinning stars are very luminous, massive and hotter than the Sun. Scientists have long suspected that the faster a star spins, the more pronounced its midsection becomes.

If the balloon scan detect these and study their nature, the scientists can then tell a lot about the type of objects that are out there in the universe.

The giant balloon is expected to reach the outskirts of Longreach in Queensland within about 40 hours and its flight will be terminated before it nears heavily-populated areas.

The project is run by the Australian Defence Force Academy at the University of New South Wales.