chemical composition tagged posts

Protostars can Siphon Material from Far Away, says study

Protostars can siphon material from far away
This artist’s conception shows a newly formed protostar surrounded by a swirling protoplanetary disk of dust and gas. Credit: University of Copenhagen/Lars Buchhave

When stars are born, they do it inside a molecular cloud. Astronomers long assumed that the “crèche” supplied all the nutrients that protostars needed to form. However, it turns out they get help from outside the nest.

A new study published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics by scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics delved into the role of streamers and filaments in the star-birth process. Think of them as channels that extend out from the interior of the stellar creche, sometimes out as far as 10,000 astronomical units (about 0.15 light-years)...

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Analysis of Particles of the Asteroid Ryugu Delivers Surprising Results

The asteroid Ryugu from a distance of 20 kilometres, photographed by the Hayabusa 2 space probe. Photo credit: JAXA, University of Tokyo, Kochi University, Rikkyo University, Nagoya University, Chiba Institute of Technology, Meiji University, University of Aizu and AIST

In December 2020, a small landing capsule brought rock particles from the asteroid Ryugu to Earth — material from the beginnings of our solar system. The Japanese space probe Hayabusa 2 had collected the samples. Geoscientist Professor Frank Brenker and his team from Goethe University Frankfurt were among the first researchers wordwide allowed literally to “shed light” on these scientifically precious samples. In the process, they discovered areas with a massive accumulation of rare earths and unexpected structures...

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Archeology of our Milky Way’s Ancient Hub

This Hubble Space Telescope image of a sparkling jewel box full of stars captures the heart of our Milky Way galaxy. Aging red giant stars coexist with their more plentiful younger cousins, the smaller, white, Sun-like stars, in this crowded region of our galaxy's ancient central hub, or bulge. Most of the bright blue stars in the image are probably recently formed stars located in the foreground, in the galaxy's disk. Astronomers studied 10,000 of these Sun-like stars in archival Hubble images over a nine-year period to unearth clues to our galaxy's evolution.

This Hubble Space Telescope image of a sparkling jewel box full of stars captures the heart of our Milky Way galaxy. Aging red giant stars coexist with their more plentiful younger cousins, the smaller, white, Sun-like stars, in this crowded region of our galaxy’s ancient central hub, or bulge. Most of the bright blue stars in the image are probably recently formed stars located in the foreground, in the galaxy’s disk. Astronomers studied 10,000 of these Sun-like stars in archival Hubble images over a nine-year period to unearth clues to our galaxy’s evolution. Release type: American Astronomical Society Meeting

A new analysis of about 10,000 normal Sun-like stars in the Milky Way’s bulge reveals that our galaxy’s hub is a dynamic environment of variously aged stars zipping around at diffe...

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