Latest news with #AstrophysicalJournal
South China Morning Post
3 days ago
- Science
- South China Morning Post
How the dance of death stars puts a new spin on the way suns are born
Some stars nearing the end of their lives slow their spin in a 'retirement solo' that not only shows the end is nigh but also how others are born. Advertisement Chinese astronomers have used this cosmic dance to look into the Milky Way's past and find that stars born today spin much faster than those formed billions of years ago. Using data from Europe's Gaia space telescope and other sky surveys, researchers at the Changchun Observatory in northeastern China studied thousands of stars, each with a mass roughly 1½ times that of the sun. They found that as the Milky Way evolved, newly formed stars began spinning up to 10 times faster than their much older counterparts. That extra spin causes gas clouds to break into smaller fragments, making it harder for massive stars to take shape. The study, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal, presents the first direct evidence that the galaxy's star-forming clouds have grown more turbulent over time. Advertisement 'Our study shows that the angular momentum of stars in a certain mass range holds key clues to the Milky Way's history,' the team said in a statement on the observatory's website. 'It offers a new way to study how the galaxy has changed over time.'
South China Morning Post
4 days ago
- Science
- South China Morning Post
How the dance of death stars puts a new spin on the way suns are born
Some stars nearing the end of their lives slow their spin in a 'retirement solo' that not only shows the end is nigh but also how others are born. Chinese astronomers have used this cosmic dance to look into the Milky Way's past and find that stars born today spin much faster than those formed billions of years ago. Using data from Europe's Gaia space telescope and other sky surveys, researchers at the Changchun Observatory in northeastern China studied thousands of stars, each with a mass roughly 1½ times that of the sun. They found that as the Milky Way evolved, newly formed stars began spinning up to 10 times faster than their much older counterparts. That extra spin causes gas clouds to break into smaller fragments, making it harder for massive stars to take shape. The study, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal, presents the first direct evidence that the galaxy's star-forming clouds have grown more turbulent over time. 'Our study shows that the angular momentum of stars in a certain mass range holds key clues to the Milky Way's history,' the team said in a statement on the observatory's website. 'It offers a new way to study how the galaxy has changed over time.'
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Alcohol-soaked star system could help explain 'why life, including us, was able to form'
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Researchers have found alcohol in the orbit of a young star, and it could help them understand the origins of life on Earth. Methanol (methyl alcohol) and its isotopes (versions of elements) were detected in gases around a star called HD 100453, which is about 330 light-years from Earth. This is the first time researchers have found isotopes of methanol in the disk of a young star like HD 100453, the scientists reported in a study published June 5 in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. Methanol is a building block for organic compounds such as amino acids, which are needed for life. Researchers had previously detected methanol — but not its far rarer isotopes — in other star-forming disks. "Finding these isotopes of methanol gives essential insight into the history of ingredients necessary to build life here on Earth," study lead author Alice Booth, a research fellow at the Harvard and Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said in a statement. Related: A hidden 'super-Earth' exoplanet is dipping in and out of its habitable zone Many young stars are surrounded by swirling disks of gas and dust. These protoplanetary disks, also known as planet-forming disks, provide the material for planets, moons and comets to form. The team made the methanol discovery using data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile. ALMA maps the chemical composition and distribution of gas in nearby (relatively speaking) protoplanetary disks. RELATED STORIES —See a young star potentially giving birth to a giant planet in new image from Very Large Telescope —James Webb telescope spots 'groundbreaking' molecule in scorching clouds of giant 'hell planet' —Ginormous planet discovered around tiny red star challenges our understanding of solar systems HD 100453 is larger than the sun, with about 1.6 times the sun's mass. This means that methanol and other molecules in its disk exist as a gas farther from their home star than would have been the case when our solar system was young. Smaller stars have cooler disks, so their molecules are normally frozen as ice and undetectable to ALMA, according to the statement. In HD 100453's disk, the researchers found that the ratio of methanol to other organic molecules was similar to that of comets in our solar system. The findings suggest that ices within protoplanetary disks eventually clump together to form comets loaded with complex organic molecules, which may then be delivered to planets through collisions. "This research supports the idea that comets may have played a big role in delivering important organic material to the Earth billions of years ago," study co-author Milou Temmink, a doctoral candidate who studies protoplanetary disks at Leiden University in the Netherlands, said in the statement. "They may be the reason why life, including us, was able to form here."
Yahoo
21-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Turns out supermassive black holes are way more common than we thought
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, BGR may receive an affiliate commission. Supermassive black holes are some of the densest objects found within our universe. These cosmic objects are so heavy that they often weigh billions of times more than our sun, and they're so dense, not even light can escape their grasp. For the most part, we've believed these massive beasts were only found at the center of galaxies. However, new research suggests they might be far more common than we thought. The new study, which is published in The Astrophysical Journal, used data from NASA's InfraRed Astronomy Satellite and the NuSTAR X-ray telescope, which is operated by NASA/JPL. By looking at data from both the infrared and x-ray spectrums, they were able to determine that several of these cosmic objects managed to slip past earlier observations. Today's Top Deals Best deals: Tech, laptops, TVs, and more sales Best Ring Video Doorbell deals Memorial Day security camera deals: Reolink's unbeatable sale has prices from $29.98 Supermassive black holes should be pretty hard to miss. Just like Sagittarius A*, the black hole at the center of the Milky Way is. While you can't expect see them by going outside and looking up from your backyard, their enormous mass causes ripples and distortions in space, which isn't hard to spot when viewing the universe through a powerful telescope. Despite the immense pull these objects have on the universe, it's still possible to miss them due to unexpected readings or even things like gravitational lensing from other galaxies. And since we still don't know how black holes evolve, there's only so much we can do to spot them. Not to mention there are a ton of less active, silent black holes out there that aren't siphoning off matter and light anymore. So, how exactly did the researchers spot new black holes? Well, according to the findings, they looked at how gas and dust emit light after being heated. From there, they were able to spot several new supermassive black holes hidden in the cosmos. We know that sometimes these cosmic objects can break free of their galaxies, leading to rogue black holes, so it's not too surprising that there are more of them than we previously expected. This is all part of a growing attempt to understand more about how dust interacts within the universe as a whole, and what's going on behind it. While there are likely still thousands (if not millions) of black holes we have yet to discover, this new research at least tells us it is worth looking harder. More Top Deals Amazon gift card deals, offers & coupons 2025: Get $2,000+ free See the
The Independent
03-06-2025
- General
- The Independent
How a planetarium show led to a cosmic breakthrough
Scientists at the American Museum of Natural History discovered the true shape of the Oort Cloud, a region far beyond Pluto, while preparing a planetarium show called 'Encounters in the Milky Way '. The inner section of the Oort Cloud, which is made of billions of comets, was found to resemble a bar with two waving arms, similar to the Milky Way galaxy. The spiral shape was identified by experts when fine-tuning a scene featuring the Oort Cloud, which is filled with icy relics. This discovery challenges the long-held belief that the Oort Cloud was shaped like a sphere or flattened shell. Researchers published their findings in The Astrophysical Journal, noting that this discovery marks a significant shift in understanding the outer solar system.
