Yet another star in our universe has been discovered behaving strangely.
Astronomers on Monday (January 8) revealed that RW Cepheus, a supergiant star in the constellation Cepheus about 16,000 light-years from Earth, has been changing in a “very dramatic way” over the past two years, Narshireddy Anug said. ” reported that it had recently begun to brighten after having been fading. Staff scientist at the CHARA Array in California.
The most likely explanation, Anug said, is that the star previously spewed out a gas cloud that cooled as it receded and blocked the star’s light from our view, causing it to become dimmer and dimmer. This means that it now appears as though there are. He and an international team of astronomers reported their findings in a paper. study Published in Astronomical Journal.
Related: The mysterious dimming of the supergiant star Betelgeuse may finally be solved (photo)
compared to Betelgeusea well-studied red supergiant star, mysteriously dimmed in 2019, sparking excitement that it was about to explode into a supernova. reveal A dust explosion is blocking our view of the star. RW Kefai is hotter, heavier and brighter. It is one of the largest galaxies in the Milky Way galaxy, 1,000 times larger than our Sun, and is so massive that if it were to replace our star, its outer layer would extend beyond Jupiter’s orbit. It will be. Despite its enormous size in its cosmic home constellation Cepheus, the star is so far away that it occupies a tiny portion of our sky and appears a millionth smaller than the full moon. .
At a press conference on Monday (January 8) at the American Astronomical Association conference being held in New Orleans and online, Anug was a giant planet that mysteriously began to dim in 2020 and was at its faintest in December. The first close-up image of the star has been revealed. In 2022, the brightness will drop to one-third of normal.
Images produced by the CHARA array (Center for High Angle Resolution Astronomy), a highly sensitive six-telescope facility atop Mount Wilson, show that Kephi RW is not round as you would expect for a star, but rather irregularly spotted. This shows that there appears to be. This is due to dark and bright spots across the surface caused by orbiting gas clouds ejected by the star.
Follow-up observations from the Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico showed that the star was fading more clearly in the visible than in the infrared. statement By Georgia State University, which operates the CHARA array.
“This is a clear sign that starlight is obscured by microscopic dust clouds that block our view.”
The recently detected gas cloud orbiting this star could be one of many “big eruptions” from Kefai RW, and with each such violent explosion the star loses some of its mass. said Douglas Giese, director of the CHARA array. Same statement.
“This was special. As the clouds were ejected in Earth’s direction, we were in the perfect position to witness the full effects of the cataclysm.”