April 29, 2024

Weird New Type of Stars – Covered in Helium Burning Ashes – Discovered by Astronomers

These outcomes were released in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Released back-to-back with this paper in the exact same journal, a second paper from a group of astronomers from the University of La Plata (Argentina) and limit Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Garching (Germany) uses a possible explanation for their development. “We believe the stars discovered by our German colleagues may have formed in a very unusual kind of excellent merger event between 2 white dwarf stars,” says Miller Bertolami, lead author of the second paper.
Outstanding mergers are understood to take place in between white dwarfs in close binary systems due to the shrinking of the orbit brought on by the emission of gravitational waves. “Usually, white dwarf mergers do not lead to the development of stars improved in carbon and oxygen,” discusses Miller Bertolami, “however we think that, for binary systems formed with really particular masses, a carbon- and oxygen-rich white dwarf may be interrupted and accreted on top of a helium-rich one, resulting in the development of these stars,” includes the scientist.
Yet no present stellar evolutionary models can fully describe these stars. As Miller Bertolami elaborates, “We need refined models to assess whether these mergers can in fact happen. These could not only help us to much better understand these stars but might likewise supply a deeper insight into the late evolution of binary systems and how do their stars exchange mass as they develop”. Until astronomers develop more refined models for the development of binary stars, the origin of the freshly found stars will be up for dispute.
For more on this research study, checked out Astronomers Discover a Strange New Type of Star Covered in Helium Burning Ashes.
Recommendation: “Discovery of hot subdwarfs covered with helium-burning ash” by Klaus Werner, Nicole Reindl, Stephan Geier and Max Pritzkuleit, 12 February 2022, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters.DOI: 10.1093/ mnrasl/slac005.

Artists impression of a rare type of outstanding merger occasion between two white dwarf stars. Credit: Nicole Reindl
A German group of astronomers from the Universities of Tübingen and Potsdam, led by Prof. Klaus Werner, have found a new type of strange stars. The spectra of the star sample, collected by the Large Binocular Telescope in Arizona, and the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) which is based at Xinglong, China and is operated by the National Astronomical Observatories of Chinese Academy of Sciences, was utilized to obtain their temperature, surface area gravity, and essential abundances.
While typical stars have surfaces made from hydrogen and helium, Werner and his coworkers identified stars with surface areas made of carbon and oxygen, the ashes of He-burning– a really unique structure for a star. The situation even becomes more perplexing because the brand-new stars have temperatures and radii that show they are still burning helium in their cores.
” Normally we anticipate stars with these surface compositions to have actually already ended up burning helium in their cores, and to be on their method to end up being white overshadows. These new stars are a serious obstacle to our understanding excellent advancement,” explains Prof. Klaus Werner from Tübingen University, the lead author of this paper.

No present outstanding evolutionary designs can totally explain these stars. As Miller Bertolami elaborates, “We require fine-tuned models to examine whether these mergers can in fact occur. These might not just assist us to much better comprehend these stars but might likewise supply a much deeper insight into the late advancement of binary systems and how do their stars exchange mass as they progress”. Till astronomers establish more refined models for the advancement of binary stars, the origin of the recently discovered stars will be up for debate.

By National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences
April 23, 2022