2024-01-27 15:49:00
An international team of astronomers discovered “21 ancient smoky stars” in the middle of the Milky Way Galaxy, as part of a monitoring program that lasted for ten years.
The international team said: “Old smoky stars are a new type of red giant stars, which are stars at the end of their lives that acquire a large size and a low surface temperature.”
The team added that these stars were described as ancient smoky stars. Because it loses its luster in the final stages of its existence and is no longer visible, before it releases a cloud of gas and dust.
Philip Lucas, an astrophysicist and professor at the University of Hertfordshire and the main author of the study, said: These stars are located in the middle of the Milky Way galaxy, in an area known as the “stellar nuclear disk,” in which a large number of stars are concentrated.
Lucas added, “What is surprising about this discovery is observing stars that are quiet and do nothing, then suddenly their apparent brightness decreases by 40 to 100 times, to the point that observing them is almost no longer possible with telescopes, and after a few years and without warning, they regain their original brightness.” “.
Lucas pointed out that these stars emit clouds of smoke, and we believe that these clouds, consisting of gas and dust, are the reason for the decrease in the star’s brightness, as they obscure the view of the observer. He explained that the matter disseminated by ancient stars plays a major role in the life cycle of elements, through Helping in the formation of new generations of stars and planets.
It is noteworthy that the international, multinational team of astronomers who prepared the study was initially searching for young stars, as part of a monitoring program that enabled them to discover a large number of protostars, that is, newborn stars, in addition to 21 smoky stars.
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