MOSCOW, January 26 An international group of scientists, during a ten-year study, discovered a new type of red giants, which were nicknamed “old smokers,” Sky News TV channel reports.
“Scientists say they have discovered a new type of star deep in the heart of our galaxy. Scientists have nicknamed these stars 'old smokers' because they have observed them 'blowing out' clouds of gas,” the channel reports.
The researchers initially wanted to capture rare newborn stars, known as protostars, as they undergo a growth spurt and burst into flames. Scientists tracked nearly a billion stars and identified 32 exploding protostars that increased in brightness by at least 40 times, and in some cases by more than 300 times.
However, as part of the same study, they discovered a group of red giants in the center of the Milky Way that exhibited ambiguous changes in brightness.
“We weren't sure whether these 21 stars were protostars starting to erupt <…> or if they were recovering from a dip in brightness caused by a disk or shell of dust near the star. <…> A third option was that “that these are old giant stars that eject matter in the later stages of their lives and exhale gas like old smokers,” said team leader Professor Philipa Lucas at the University of Hertforshire.
According to researchers, the higher concentration of heavy elements in stars located in the center of the Milky Way should contribute to the condensation of dust particles from gas in the relatively cold outer layers red giants. However, it remains a mystery to researchers how this leads to the plumes of thick smoke that the team observed.
According to astronomers, this discovery could change ideas about the distribution of elements in the center of the Milky Way and metal-rich regions of other galaxies.
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