astronomer might have remove the long - bear mystery of theblue strayer . These are hotshot that seem hotter and bluer than they should be – the old stellar populations they are found in should be devoid of high - aggregate , short - lifetime lead like these , but somehow they refuse the carry evolutionary succession . One - quarter of acquire old hotshot are thought to be blue stragglers .
Using the Hubble Space Telescope , researcher from the University of Texas observed 21 drear stragglers in the open cluster NGC 188 and discovered that two - third of them were capable to acquire material that made them able-bodied to “ rejuvenate ” themselves .
Although they have been have intercourse for more than 60 class , the formation mechanism behind blue stragglers has remained mystifying . Most scientists tally that these object form through mass accumulation , but data-based grounds has so far been knotty .
“ This was really great . Until now there was no concrete data-based proof , only implicative results , ” conduce generator Dr Natalie Gosnell tell in astatement . “ It ’s the first time we can place limit on the fraction of blue stragglers formed through hatful transfer . ”
The candid star cluster NGC 188 observed by Gosnell and her team . Digitized Sky Survey 2 ( STScI / AURA , Palomar / Caltech , and UKSTU / AAO )
Binary stars , although they shape together , run to have a different development . The bigger star will become a red colossus more quickly , turning into a large , bloated star with an out bed of material that is only tenuously hold by the star ’s somberness . While the bigger star turns into a red-faced giant , the smaller companion seizes the opportunity to change thing . It starts stealing the material from the red behemoth , becoming a hot and blueish while only the hot Congress of Racial Equality of its familiar persist : the red giant has turned into awhite gnome .
The study , published in the Astrophysical Journal , shows that seven out the 21 blue stragglers have a white nanus fellow traveller , which were so red-hot ( between 11,000 and 12,000 Kelvins ) they were identified by their ultraviolet radiation gleaming . Another seven objects were show to have formed by a different mass accretion mechanism by comparing their properties to theoretical predictions . Some mould by merging into a treble star scheme .
The method acting is bound because if the naughty strayer had an former white gnome ( old than 250 million yr ) it would now be too cool to be detected using UV light . So , the resolution is a humble limit on the amount of puritanic strayer work in this way .
Gosnell is design to continue study blue stragglers at theMcDonald Observatory , skip to cumber the routine of objects that imprint through merger into a three - star system . model of how star form and evolve are very important , both in studying stars in the Milky Way and producing estimate on distant wandflower . “ You do n’t need to be brush off 25 percent of the develop stars ” in those galaxies , Gosnell concluded .
