Thursday, April 25, 2013

Mysterious Hot Spots in Cool Red Supergiant


Mysterious Hot Spots in Cool Red Supergiant

        
  Scientists have recently discovered, via a radio telescope, e-MERLIN, mysterious hot spots on the cool red supergiant star, Betelgeuse. Betelgeuse is the nearest red supergiant to earth, and it is estimated to be 1000 times larger than our sun. It is 650 light years away from earth, but through new telescoping capabilities, scientists recently released a photo of the star, revealing hot spots surrounding the sun. Although no one knows exactly why these hot spots are there or how they are so hot, Dr. Anita Richards guessed, "One possibility is that shock waves, caused either by the star pulsating or by convection in its outer layers, are compressing and heating the gas. Another is that the outer atmosphere is patchy and we are seeing through to hotter regions within. The arc of cool gas is thought to be the result of a period of increased mass loss from the star at some point in the last century but its relationship to structures like the hot spots, which lie much closer in, within the star's outer atmosphere, is unknown."

NoS Themes
-Science is based on evidence
-Role of motivation and curiosity

 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130424222432.htm

Sam Pahl
Hour 1

1 comment:

  1. What if it explodes? "Scientists say when Betelgeuse explodes, it will be so epic it will brighten up the night sky significantly. Astronomers are unsure of exactly when this will take place, but if Betelgeuse exploded sometime in the middle ages, then we could be seeing the effects of this supernova hitting Earth in our lifetime."

    http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1112830512/betelgeuse-star-hot-spots-e-merlin-radio-telescoope-jodrell-bank-observatory-042413/

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