NGC 592-WR2

NGC 592-WR2 was one of the four Wolf-Rayet stars discovered in the NGC 592 region. It was first discovered back in the early 2000s along with the three other stars using the Hubble Space Telescope. It had a spectral class of WN4. NGC 592-WR2 had a surface temperature of around 65000K, a radius of around 2.4 Earth radii and a mass of 15 solar masses. It rotates roughly every 420 seconds and has a rotational velocity of around 200km/s.

WR2 event and aftermath

About 48 hours prior to the collpase of WR2, noticable dimming and brightenning events were observed with the Vista Astronomical Space Telescope (VAST). These events were occuring in the near infrared and the visible spectrum, suggesting that mulitple quakes were occuring on the surface of the star. These events were occuring at roughly one hour intervals, which then peaked 7 hours before collapse at roughly 15-25 second intervals. Multiple notices were given out to the govenments across Vista to "prepare for the worst" about 20 hours before collapse, requiring that at least 50% of the county's population be ready to be evacuated off Vista within the next 24 hours. Previous observations has shown that WR2's rotational axis is very closely aligned with Vista, meaning that if WR2 were to collapse and produce a gamma-ray burst, Vista could experience devastating effects. Ozone in the atmosphere could drop by as much as 45%, radiation could reach dangerous levels sterilizing the surface within days, and the formation of nitrogen oxides will cause global cooling and acid rain. At the time of collpase, WR2 brightened from a magnitude +2.5 to a magnitude -10.2 within 10 seconds, making it visible even during day time. Many electrical devices were damaged and rendered inoperable, causing satellites, transport and services to either slow or completely stop operations. Sensors detected very rapid drops in Ozone, increase in nitrogen oxides and a 10 times increase in radiation levels. Ships immediately began to depart Vista, with roughly 7 million people evacuated. However, a million people were left stranded on Vista due to limited space and supplies on the ships. Roughly 70% of the people died due to cancer and radiation poisoning, with most of the remaining survivors succumbing to hunger and hypothermia. There could be less than a hundred survivors on Vista.