Dying Stars Create Molecules Necessary For Making Water
- 10 years ago
According to the latest measurements from the European Space Agency’s Herschel space observatory, dying stars contain a certain molecule, called OH+ that is necessary for the formation of water. Stars, like the sun in our own solar system, burn hydrogen in their core for billions of years before becoming red giants, and then turning into dense white dwarf stars before they die.
According to the latest measurements from the European Space Agency’s Herschel space observatory, dying stars contain a certain molecule, called OH+ that is necessary for the formation of water.
Stars, like the sun in our own solar system, burn hydrogen in their core for billions of years before swelling into red giants when the fuel runs out. The star’s core eventually turns into a dense white dwarf star before dying.
The dying stars shed layers of dust and gas into planetary nebulae, and also enhance the interstellar environment with elements that form into new stars.
One study of eleven planetary nebulas found the OH+ molecule in three of them, which were the hottest of the nebulas in the study with temperatures reaching over 100 thousand degrees Celsius.
Dr Isabel Aleman of Leiden University in the Netherlands who worked on the study is quoted as saying: “We think that a critical clue is in the presence of the dense clumps of gas and dust, which are illuminated by UV and X-ray radiation emitted by the hot central star. This high-energy radiation interacts with the clumps to trigger chemical reactions that leads to the formation of the molecules.”
Previous studies assumed that the extreme radiation from white dwarf stars would destroy these kinds of molecules, but now two different studies have confirmed their existence.
According to the latest measurements from the European Space Agency’s Herschel space observatory, dying stars contain a certain molecule, called OH+ that is necessary for the formation of water.
Stars, like the sun in our own solar system, burn hydrogen in their core for billions of years before swelling into red giants when the fuel runs out. The star’s core eventually turns into a dense white dwarf star before dying.
The dying stars shed layers of dust and gas into planetary nebulae, and also enhance the interstellar environment with elements that form into new stars.
One study of eleven planetary nebulas found the OH+ molecule in three of them, which were the hottest of the nebulas in the study with temperatures reaching over 100 thousand degrees Celsius.
Dr Isabel Aleman of Leiden University in the Netherlands who worked on the study is quoted as saying: “We think that a critical clue is in the presence of the dense clumps of gas and dust, which are illuminated by UV and X-ray radiation emitted by the hot central star. This high-energy radiation interacts with the clumps to trigger chemical reactions that leads to the formation of the molecules.”
Previous studies assumed that the extreme radiation from white dwarf stars would destroy these kinds of molecules, but now two different studies have confirmed their existence.