The new NSF VLBA radio telescope network has helped scientists study young stars in the Orion constellation. Astronomers have been able to observe motion in young binary systems and accurately measure their masses.
Dance of young stars. Source: phys.org
Mystery of young stars
Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy report that they have been able to measure the mass of young stars in the Orion constellation with unprecedented precision. They were aided in this by the National Science Foundation’s Very Long Baseline Array (NSF VLBA), a new American radio telescope network.
The details of the study have been published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. The study began with the question of how to determine the mass of galaxies in the early stages of their formation. They determine whether a star’s lifespan will be measured in millions or billions of years, as well as its chemical composition and, consequently, the arrangement of the planets in the system.
Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult to detect young stars. They are usually hidden within the gas and dust nebulae that gave rise to them. Astronomers can say with reasonable certainty that there is a star there, but its light remains hidden and obscured by the surrounding dust.
A new network of radio telescopes
However, this problem is successfully solved by the NSF VLBA, which links a network of radio telescopes scattered across a region stretching from Hawaii to the Virgin Islands. These instruments operate at a frequency of 5 GHz, at which gas and dust clouds around young stars remain transparent.
At the same time, the accuracy of the new network, which combines data from all these radio telescopes, is exceptionally high. It is capable of detecting changes as small as the thickness of a human hair from a distance of 1,000 km. And for this reason, it was directed at the young stars in the Orion Nebula.
Scientists were particularly interested in pairs of celestial bodies whose motion can now be studied with incredible precision. By analyzing this cosmic dance, astronomers can determine the forces with which these objects interact, and from that, their masses.
The most interesting part of the study is the comparison of the results with current models. Most of them are consistent with the new data in one way or another. However, at least one model contradicts them, and scientists are now trying to figure out why.
According to phys.org