Secrets hide in the twinkling of stars. A research team led by scientists at the Flatiron Institute and Northwestern University has created first-of-their-kind computer simulations showing how churning deep in a star’s depths can cause the star’s light to flicker. This effect is different from the visible twinkling of stars in the night sky caused by Earth’s atmosphere.
By closely observing the innate twinkling of stars, astronomers could one day use the simulations to learn more about what goes on inside stars larger than our sun, the researchers report on July 27 in Nature Astronomy.
The effects are too small for current telescopes to pick up, says study co-author Matteo Cantiello, a research scientist at the Flatiron Institute’s Center for Computational Astrophysics (CCA) in New York City. That could change with improved telescopes. “We’ll be able to see the signature of the core,” Cantiello says, “which will be quite interesting because it will be a way to probe the very inner regions of stars.”
A better understanding of stellar innards will help astronomers learn how stars form and evolve, how galaxies assemble, and how heavy elements such as the oxygen we breathe are created, says study lead author Evan Anders, a postdoctoral researcher at Northwestern University.
A 3D simulation of how turbulent convection in the core of a large star (center) can generate waves that ripple outward and power resonant vibrations near the star’s surface. By studying changes in the star’s brightness caused by the vibrations, scientists could one day better understand the processes deep in the hearts of large stars. Credit: E.H. Anders et al./Nature Astronomy 2023
“Motions in the cores of stars launch waves like those on the ocean,” Anders says. “When the waves arrive at the star’s surface, they make it twinkle in a way that astronomers may be able to observe. For the first time, we have developed computer models which allow us to determine how much a star should twinkle as a result of these waves. This work allows future space telescopes to probe the central regions where stars forge the elements we depend upon to live and breathe.”
2023-07-27 10:48:03
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