December 23, 2024 05:28 am (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
Mohali building collapse: Death toll rises to 2, many feared trapped for 17 hours | 4-year-old killed after speeding car driven by a teen hits him in Mumbai | PM Modi attends opening ceremony of Arabian Gulf Cup in Kuwait | Jaipur gas tanker crash: Toll touches 14, 30 critical | Arrest warrant against former cricketer Robin Uthappa over 'PF fraud' | PM Modi emplanes for a visit to Kuwait | German Christmas market car attack leaves 2 dead, Saudi Arabian doctor arrested | India, France come together to build world's largest museum in Delhi's Raisina Hill | Canada, US presented no evidence of Indians' involvement in purported criminal acts: Centre informs Parliament amid 'serious allegations' | Delhi Police Crime Branch to investigate FIR against Rahul Gandhi over Parliament tussle

Asteroseismologists listen to the relics of the Milky Way: Study

| | Jun 10, 2016, at 05:30 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.
Related Images
Cyclone Dana: Heavy rains lash Kolkata, widespread waterlogging reported from several areas
Cyclone Dana: Heavy rains lash Kolkata, widespread waterlogging reported from several areas Oct 25, 2024, at 11:15 pm
Farmers working at dragon fruit garden in Agaratala
Farmers working at dragon fruit garden in Agaratala Jun 30, 2021, at 05:07 am
Swami Ramdev, Achariya Balakrishna perform Yoga with followers at Haridwar
Swami Ramdev, Achariya Balakrishna perform Yoga with followers at Haridwar Jun 22, 2021, at 01:59 am