2024-01-27 09:36:54

Astronomers have discovered ancient, smoky stars in the heart of the Milky Way Galaxy. They are stars that lose their luster in the final stages of their existence, and are no longer visible, before releasing a cloud of gas and dust.

A professor at the Chilean Andres Pio University, Dante Minetti, said that these ancient stars remain quiet for years or decades, before releasing clouds of smoke completely unexpectedly, adding that he noticed that these stars are pale and red in color to the point that they are not possible to see at night. Launching sometimes.

For his part, the main author of the study, astrophysicist and professor at the University of Hertfordshire, Philip Lucas, said that the unique behavior of these stars had not been observed before, pointing out that they were initially searching for young stars, within a monitoring program that lasted ten years, and they were actually able to discover A large number of newborn protostars, and at least 21 ancient smoky stars have been discovered.

He continued: “What is astonishing regarding this discovery is observing stars that are quiet and doing nothing, and then suddenly, their apparent brightness decreased by 40 to 100 times, to the point that observing them was almost no longer possible with telescopes, and following a few years, and without warning, they regained their brightness.” “Its original brightness, and everything we have been able to know regarding these stars indicates that they emit clouds of smoke for reasons we do not know, and we believe that these clouds, composed of gas and dust, are the reason for the decrease in the star’s brightness, as they obscure it from the observer’s view.”

He stressed that the activity of these stars occurs in a region of the galaxy rich in heavy elements, to which these stars may contribute, and that the matter ejected by old stars plays a major role in the life cycle of the elements, by helping in the formation of new generations of stars and planets, and therefore, it is believed that the matter That emanates from “smoking old stars and spreads out, enriching the interstellar medium in which new stars are born,” indicating that they lack a final, conclusive answer on this topic.

It is noteworthy that these stars are located in the center of the Milky Way galaxy, in a region known as the stellar nuclear disk, in which a large number of stars are concentrated. It is believed that “old smoking stars” are a new type of red giant stars, and they are stars at the end of their lives that acquire at this stage. Large size and low surface temperature.

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