 |
| A Hubble Space Telescope color image of a small portion of the cluster only 0.63 light-years across reveals eight white dwarf stars (inside blue circles) among the cluster's much brighter population of yellow sun-like stars and cooler red dwarf stars. (Credit: Harvey Richer (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada) and NASA). |
ScienceDaily (June 17, 2011) — Researchers at the University of Leicester are investigating the possible eventual fate of the solar system by examining 'white dwarf' stars elsewhere in our galaxy.
A white dwarf is the last stage in the life cycle of a star like the Sun, after it has contracted to a diameter smaller than that of Earth. Incredibly dense, one teaspoon of white dwarf material would weigh about five tonnes.
Data from the Hubble Space Telescope provides a spectrum for each star which reveals its chemical make-up. Older, cooler white dwarfs, with a temperature of less than 25,000 degrees, sometimes contain elements such as oxygen, nitrogen, silicon and iron which have been 'hoovered up' from the remains of planets.
Younger, hotter white dwarfs, above that temperature always show heavy chemicals due to their high temperature. However, they sometimes exhibit more of this material than is expected, which raises the question of whether this extra material also came from planets or whether it originated elsewhere, perhaps in clouds around the star."
"Understanding whether the extra material in hot white dwarfs comes from torn up planets is important," emphasizes Dickinson. "It can give us an idea of how these ancient planetary systems evolve as the star ages, so we get a fuller picture of how solar systems die.
"Being the end point of the life cycles of most stars, white dwarfs are among the oldest objects in the galaxy, so they can tell us about what were in the oldest solar systems. Given that the Sun will end its life as a white dwarf, this could tell us what could ultimately happen to our solar system."
In 2010 Dickinson presented some of his work at the 17th European White Dwarf Workshop in Germany, which has since been published in the journal AIP Conference Proceedings.
"Working at the forefront of this scientific area is extremely exciting," says Dickinson. "I find being one of a relatively small community of people in the world to work on this particular area amazing. This work is helping to shape our understanding of how most stars end their lives, how solar systems die, how the environment around these ancient stars behaves and what will ultimately happen to the vast majority of stars in the galaxy.
Pro Vice Chancellor and Head of the College of Science and Engineering, Professor Martin Barstow added: "These are important results which show how younger scientists can be involved in cutting edge research and help the University make important contributions to answering some of the most challenging questions about the Universe and our place within it."
So, the end of our universe. When would it be? Many people have been wondering about this, religious people are sticking to the date proposed by Mr Harold Camping as Oct. 21.Astronomers are investigating the possible eventual fate of the solar system by examining 'white dwarf' star. As these stars were formed billions of years ago, even when earth was yet to form, they actually provide an insight to ancient Earth and maybe even provide an answer as to how Earth came about, was it the Big Bang Theory or was it the religious theories? The dwarfs can tell us about what were in the oldest solar systems and similarly, just like the Sun would end as a white dwark, it could tell us more information about how the universe would end. Now, i would like to comment on Professor Martin Barstow's words-: "These are important results which show how younger scientists can be involved in cutting edge research and help the University make important contributions to answering some of the most challenging questions about the Universe and our place within it."
I agree with him that in the 21st Century, younger people are achieving greater heights an they seem to possess a greater level of talent than the people in the 20 and 19 centuries. Young people are making more contributions to the society, we should be taking this seriously as they will be the next batch of scientists answering questions about our Universe. It will be the talented group of them helping mankind, invent cures to diseases...... I believe that talent should be discovered earlier and more chances should be given to these people, such as letting them do experiments on their own withought any guidance, only with talent will our Universeand mankind's quality of life progress and improve.
No comments:
Post a Comment