November 23, 2024 06:30 (IST)

Make this your homepage

Science & Technology

'Third World War has begun:' Ex-Ukraine military commander-in-chief Valery Zaluzhny | UK-India Free Trade Agreement negotiations to resume in early 2024 | UK can arrest Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits country based on ICC warrant | Centre to send over 10,000 additional soldiers to violence-hit Manipur amid fresh violence | Chhattisgarh: 10 Maoists killed during encounter with security forces in Sukma

Asteroseismologists listen to the relics of the Milky Way: Study

India Blooms News Service | | 10 Jun 2016, 12:00 am

#Milky Way Galaxy, #Asteroseismologists, #relics Milky Way, #University of Birmingham

Birmingham, Jun 9 (IBNS): Astrophysicists from the University of Birmingham have captured the sounds of some of the oldest stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way, according to research published in the Royal Astronomical Society journal Monthly Notices on Thursday.

The research team, from the University of Birmingham’s School of Physics and Astronomy, has reported the detection of resonant acoustic oscillations of stars in ‘M4’, one of the oldest known clusters of stars in the Galaxy, some 13 billion years old.

Using data from the NASA Kepler/K2 mission, the team has studied the resonant oscillations of stars using a technique called asteroseismology. These oscillations lead to miniscule changes or pulses in brightness, and are caused by sound trapped inside the stars.

By measuring the tones in this ‘stellar music’, it is possible to determine the mass and age of individual stars. This discovery opens the door to using asteroseismology to study the very early history of our Galaxy.

Dr Andrea Miglio, from the University of Birmingham’s School of Physics and Astronomy, who led the study, said: "We were thrilled to be able to listen to some of the stellar relics of the early universe. The stars we have studied really are living fossils from the time of the formation of our Galaxy, and we now hope be able to unlock the secrets of how spiral galaxies, like our own, formed and evolved."

Dr Guy Davies, from the University of Birmingham’s School of Physics and Astronomy, and co-author on the study, said: "The age scale of stars has so far been restricted to relatively young stars, limiting our ability to probe the early history of our Galaxy. In this research we have been able to prove that asteroseismology can give precise and accurate ages for the oldest stars in the Galaxy."

Professor Bill Chaplin, from the University of Birmingham’s School of Physics and Astronomy and leader of the international collaboration on asteroseismology, said: "Just as archaeologists can reveal the past by excavating the earth, so we can use sound inside the stars to perform Galactic archaeology."

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.

India
International

Related Images

Cyclone Dana: Heavy rains lash Kolkata, widespread waterlogging reported from several areas 25 Oct 2024, 05:45 pm

Farmers working at dragon fruit garden in Agaratala 29 Jun 2021, 11:37 pm

Swami Ramdev, Achariya Balakrishna perform Yoga with followers at Haridwar 21 Jun 2021, 08:29 pm