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The neutron star RX J0822-4300, which was measured to move at a record speed of over 1,500 km/s (0.5% of the speed of light) in 2007 by the Chandra X-ray Observatory, is thought to have been produced the first way. [42] One theory regarding the ignition of Type Ia supernovae invokes the onset of a merger between two white dwarfs in a binary ...
Early examples of applying stellar dynamics to clusters include Albert Einstein's 1921 paper applying the virial theorem to spherical star clusters and Fritz Zwicky's 1933 paper applying the virial theorem specifically to the Coma Cluster, which was one of the original harbingers of the idea of dark matter in the universe.
Scutum Star Cloud with open cluster Messier 11 at lower left. Technically not star clusters, star clouds are large groups of many stars within a galaxy, spread over very many light-years of space. Often they contain star clusters within them. The stars appear closely packed, but are not usually part of any structure. [17]
The first known globular cluster, now called M 22, was discovered in 1665 by Abraham Ihle, a German amateur astronomer. [4] [5] [6] The cluster Omega Centauri, easily visible in the southern sky with the naked eye, was known to ancient astronomers like Ptolemy as a star, but was reclassified as a nebula by Edmond Halley in 1677, [7] then finally as a globular cluster in the early 19th century ...
Many globular clusters, such as the 13-Gyr old cluster M30 (pictured), are mass segregated. In astronomy, dynamical mass segregation is the process by which heavier members of a gravitationally bound system, such as a star cluster, tend to move toward the center, while lighter members tend to move farther away from the center.
The horizontal branch (HB) is a stage of stellar evolution that immediately follows the red-giant branch in stars whose masses are similar to the Sun's. Horizontal-branch stars are powered by helium fusion in the core (via the triple-alpha process) and by hydrogen fusion (via the CNO cycle) in a shell surrounding the core.
Globular cluster masses can be determined by observing the proper motion of nearby stars influenced by the cluster [1] [2] or by estimating the cluster's relaxation time. [ 3 ] Open clusters
The regions with higher density of stars are shown; these correspond with known star clusters (Hyades and Coma Berenices) and moving groups. This is a list of nearby stellar associations and moving groups. A stellar association is a very loose star cluster, looser than an open cluster. A moving group is the remnant of such a stellar association ...