Light Eye
09-04-2006, 12:21 PM
Dear Friends,
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/060904_mystery_monday.html
Be Well, Be Love.
David
Strange Space Pinwheels Spotted
The heart of one of the Milky Way galaxy's most massive star clusters harbors
as many as five pinwheels, a strange and relatively newly discovered type of
stellar object, astronomers say.
Initially, scientists using the Hubble Space Telescope took a close look at
the Quintuplet Cluster, naming it after the five red massive and enigmatic stars
found at its center. It was unclear if the stars, called "cocoon stars" for the
dust surrounding them, were young or old.
Now, the Keck Observatory's 10-meter Keck I telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii,
the world's biggest telescope, has shown that all five of the stars are
approaching the ends of their lives and that at least two of the stars look like
pinwheels, rotating around one another. The other stars also might be pinwheels,
the scientists say, spewing out dust in a spiral arc in the same way a rotating
lawn sprinkler creates a spiral of water. [Image]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/060904_mystery_monday.html
Be Well, Be Love.
David
Strange Space Pinwheels Spotted
The heart of one of the Milky Way galaxy's most massive star clusters harbors
as many as five pinwheels, a strange and relatively newly discovered type of
stellar object, astronomers say.
Initially, scientists using the Hubble Space Telescope took a close look at
the Quintuplet Cluster, naming it after the five red massive and enigmatic stars
found at its center. It was unclear if the stars, called "cocoon stars" for the
dust surrounding them, were young or old.
Now, the Keck Observatory's 10-meter Keck I telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii,
the world's biggest telescope, has shown that all five of the stars are
approaching the ends of their lives and that at least two of the stars look like
pinwheels, rotating around one another. The other stars also might be pinwheels,
the scientists say, spewing out dust in a spiral arc in the same way a rotating
lawn sprinkler creates a spiral of water. [Image]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]