NUMFASHIN ƘARSHE NA TAURARO MAI WUTSIYA MAI SHAFAR RANA, DA AKA JI TA REDIYO

Taurari masu wutsiya na Kreutz masu shafar Rana (Kreutz sungrazers) iyali ne na taurari masu wutsiya da ke neman mutuwa. Kewayarsu (orbits) tana kai su kusa da Rana fiye da kima, cikin yankin da ƙarfin jan hankalinta (gravity) zai iya yage jiki. Ana tunanin dukkansu guntaye ne na tauraro mai wutsiya ɗaya daga gajimaren Oort (Oort cloud) mai nisa wanda ya farfashe tun da daɗewa. Ya zuwa yanzu a wannan ƙarni, uku kaɗai aka hango daga ƙasa. Nazarinsu dama ce da ba kasafai ake samu ba: aikinsu mai tsanani da farfashewarsu na iya bayyana abubuwa daga cikin zurfin tsakiyarsu (nucleus), ba samansa kawai ba.

Na uku, C/2026 A1 (MAPS), an gano shi a Janairu 2026 ta hannun A. Maury, G. Attard, D. Parrott da F. Signoret, a nisan da ya kafa tarihi ga ɗaya daga cikin waɗannan taurari masu wutsiya: ninki 2.1 na nisan Duniya da Rana. Da kewaya ta kusan shekaru 1,700, ya kamata ya wuce kusa da Rana a nisan raka’ar sararin samaniya (astronomical units) 0.006 kacal a ranar 4 ga Afrilu. Na’urar hangen nesa ta James Webb ta ƙiyasta faɗin tsakiyarsa (nucleus) da kilomita 0.4.

Bai kai ba. A ranar 4 ga Afrilu, kusan awanni biyu kafin mafi kusancinsa, tauraron ya farfashe. Kumbon SOHO ya kalle shi yana ɓacewa a bayan faifan da ke toshe hasken Rana mai tsanani, sannan ya sake bayyana a ɗaya gefen a matsayin gajimaren ƙura; kumbon STEREO kuwa ya gan shi yana komawa ƙura daga wata kusurwa daban.

Kwanaki uku a na’urar hangen nesa

A cikin kwanaki uku kafin wannan ƙarshe, daga 1 zuwa 3 ga Afrilu, Amélie Godard Palluet da Víctor Rivilla, a Centre for Astrobiology da ke Madrid, tare da abokan aiki a Paris Observatory da Goddard Space Flight Center na NASA, sun nufar da na’urar hangen nesa ta rediyo ta IRAM mai mita 30 da ke tsaunukan Sierra Nevada na Spain zuwa ga tauraron. A lokacin yana tsakanin raka’ar sararin samaniya 0.23 da 0.10 daga Rana. Bayan 3 ga Afrilu, tauraron ya yi kusa da Rana sosai a sararin sama ta yadda na’urar ba za ta iya nufarsa lafiya ba.

Sun saurari siginar rediyo ta hydrogen cyanide (HCN), a gigahertz 265.886 — kuma sun same ta kowace rana. Wannan shi ne gano HCN na farko a cikin tauraro mai wutsiya na Kreutz mai shafar Rana, kuma karo na farko da aka gano kowace ƙwayar sinadari (molecule) a cikin waɗannan taurari masu wutsiya a tsawon igiyoyin milimita (millimetre wavelengths). Kafin haka, ’yan ƙwayoyin sinadarai masu sauƙi kaɗan ne kawai (CH, CN, C₂ da C₃) aka gani a cikin ɗaya daga cikinsu, tauraro mai wutsiya Ikeya-Seki na 1965, a hasken da ido ke gani (visible light).

A irin wannan kusanci da Rana, hasken rana yana tarwatsa HCN cikin kusan minti 12. Hakan yana mayar da kowane ma’auni hoton lokaci guda na iskar gas da aka saki yanzu-yanzu, kuma yana bar ƙungiyar ta bi numfashin tauraron kusan a daidai lokacin da yake faruwa.

Fashewa a jajibirin ƙarshe

Fitar HCN na tauraron ya tashi da 20% daga 1 zuwa 2 ga Afrilu, sannan da fiye da 350% daga 2 zuwa 3 ga Afrilu. Yawancin wannan tashi ya dace da dokar da aka saba ga taurari masu wutsiya — fitarwa tana ƙaruwa bisa juzu’in murabba’in (inverse square) nisa zuwa Rana — amma ba duka ba. Ƙungiyar ta ga fashewa biyu (outbursts): mai rauni a ranar 1 ga Afrilu da mai ƙarfi a ranar 3 ga Afrilu, lokacin da fitarwar ta yi tsalle da fiye da 75% cikin minti 17 kafin ta ragu da kashi ɗaya cikin huɗu.

Haɗa iskar gas ɗin a tsawon wannan fashewa yana ba da kilogram 99,000 na HCN. A cikin taurari masu wutsiya, HCN yawanci yana zuwa tare da kusan ƙwayoyin ruwa dubu ga kowanne; hakan yana nufin kusan tan 66,000 na ruwa, ko 0.4% na nauyin tauraron (mass). Idan aka ƙidaya ƙurar da iskar gas ɗin ta ja tare da ita, asarar za ta iya kaiwa 1.2%. Idan aka shimfiɗa ta a matsayin layi mai kaurin mita 5, za ta rufe murabba’i mai gefen mita 163 zuwa 282, a kan tsakiya mai faɗin mita 400.

Ƙasa da awanni 24 bayan haka, tauraron ya ɓace. Marubutan sun nuna cewa wataƙila fashewar ta taimaka wajen haifar da farfashewar, suna goyon bayan ra’ayin cewa fitowar iskar gas mara tsari (jets) — waɗanda ke turawa, juyawa da murɗa tsakiya — za su iya yage taurari masu wutsiya, ba igiyoyin jan hankalin Rana (tides) kaɗai ba.

Kaya da suka riga suka tsira

Wasu ayyukan sun nuna cewa C/2026 A1 guntu ne na zuriya ta biyu daga tauraro mai wutsiya da Aristotle ya gani a shekara ta 372 kafin haihuwar Annabi Isa (BC), kuma guntu ne na tauraro mai wutsiya na shekara ta 363 (AD). Idan haka ne, ya riga ya wuce sau biyu ta wannan yanki mai halakarwa kusa da Rana. Samun HCN a cikinsa yana nuna cewa ƙwayoyin sinadarai masu rauni da masu saurin zama tururi (volatile) za su iya tsira daga irin waɗannan wucewa masu tsanani: tsakiya mai ramuka-ramuka (porous) yana barin zafi ya dafa layukansa na waje kawai.

Ƙungiyar ta kuma nemi wasu ƙwayoyin sinadarai shida; babu wanda aka gano da tabbaci, ko da yake akwai alamar HNC da ta rage. Wannan lura ta dogara ne da kama tauraron da wuri — da kuma kan na’urar hangen nesa ta rediyo da za ta iya nufa har zuwa digiri 5 daga Rana, inda cibiyoyin lura kamar ALMA ba za su iya duba ba.