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This plot of infrared data, called a spectrum, shows the strong signature of water vapor deep within the core of an embryonic star system called NGC 1333-IRAS 4B
Stars emit light (electromagnetic radiation) and heat. If you take the light from a star and send it through an instrument called a spectrograph, you can essentially break up the light into its component colors (wavelengths). You've seen one form of a spectrum in nature: it's called a rainbow and it was created by light being broken up through a prism of raindrops.
The image above is a graph spectrum showing us the chemical elements that exist in a star called NGC1333-IRAS 4B. The infrared light was analyzed by an instrument aboard the Spitzer Space Telescope (which is sensitive to infrared wavelengths). The scientists compared it to a model of a water spectrum, and found water vapor in the region surrounding the star. What they think is happening is that ice particles in the surrounding environment are falling toward the star. When they hit the disk of gas and dust around the star, they heat up and melt, forming water vapor.
These details are in the spectrum, which tells us about the motion of the ice particles surrounding the star.
Spectra are a part of astrophysical research that can look pretty boring or confusing to people who don't see them every day. Yet, if you know how to read them and what to look for, they can reveal details of an astronomical object that you just can't see with the naked eye or in an image. Here's another one, from a recent Gemini Observatory press release, that shows the evidence for water and ammonia ices on Pluto's companion world, Charon. It is centered on infrared light radiating at 2.2 microns. The solid line is a model of a surface with ices called ammonia hydrates, along with water ices. Other dots are the data from the surface of Charon that represent ammonia hydrate ices. (You can read more about this one here.)
Now, I don't normally "do" spectra in my planetarium shows, mostly because they require more explanation than we often have time for. But, they are treasure troves of information, hidden right before our eyes.
We live in a pretty amazing age, although I suppose people in every age think their own times are amazing. But, I have to count an age where we (humans) can reach out and explore other planets and distant stars and galaxies seemingly as readily as we turn on the computer as amazing.
Going over some recent press releases that have landed in my mailbox, I see a story about water ice on Mars—not a big surprise, we know there's water on Mars, but now we are getting a better feel for how much and how it is distributed (paricularly as underground ice) on the Red Planet. That one broke earlier today, and you can see the full story and pictures here. Now, you might wonder why this is a Big Deal. I mean, we detect ice on our planet all the time. But, again—astronomers reached out with a specialized camera across from Earth to Mars, and were able to tease out data about underground ice on a planet we haven't even personally set foot on yet. THAT is amazing.
Also released today from the European office of the Hubble Space Telescope is a great image of the globular cluster NGC 2808. It's a great picture, very pretty! And, it reveals that (for this globular cluster anyway) star birth is NOT a thing of the past.
Globulars are typically the oldest members of our galaxy's system, born when the Milky Way was, and astronomers thought all the stars in a globular were the same age. For THIS globular, however, there are three generations of stars, implying that instead of one big burst of stars, it had three baby booms. This upsets the conventional theories about globular cluster formation, and we get another great pic of a globular in the process, using a telescope that reaches out across thousands of light-years to tell us a story about stars as they formed some 12 billion years ago!
Speaking of stellar ages, the folks at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, announced a new method for determining very accurate ages of stars based on how fast they rotate. Why would you want to know how old a star is? If it has planets, knowing its age helps you put a timetable on the planets' ages and how their evolution is proceeding. That's a large and very important part in the study of any planets actually—how they change over time. The rotation rate of a star, as it turns out, is a function of its age and color. If you measure the rotation period and the color, for example, you can calculate the age of the star.
Finally, although it's not entirely new news, the recent announcement that astronomers using the European Southern Observatory have discovered the most Earth-like planet around another star is a new benchmark in planet searches. Stars are large and bright, and their light can hide planets that orbit close by. We usually have to use indirect methods (like taking a spectral measurement of the star's light and then measuring any "wobbles" in the spectrum that indicate the gravitational tug of a planet on its star) to find exoplanets. Most of the exoplanets you've heard about are Jupiter-like (ie. big and gassy) planets. This new one is more Earth-like, and astronomers think that it may have water in its atmosphere. That doesn't mean it has life, but water is an important factor for the creation of life as we know it. Stay tuned on that one.
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