Aluminum-26, the radionuclides that fertilize star systems

the Ophiuchus Or continue talking about Serpentario. Or rather, keep giving information about The origins of our solar system Thanks to the presence of several “stellar cradles” that illustrate the early stages of the formation of a planetary system. After identifying organic molecules such as Glycolonitrile or watch protoplanetary discs And their small gravitational field, scientists have focused on a new component. This is thealuminum – 26, a certain class of Short-lived radioactive particles Which would have contributed to the formation of stellar systems.

Using multi-wavelength observations collected thanks to the Vista telescope in Chile, inHerschel Space Observatory And the satellite plank From ESA and Al Compton Ray Gamma Radiator From NASA, scientists have revealed an exchange between star-forming gaseous clouds and radionuclides produced by nearby supernovae.

“It is possible that our solar system formed into a giant molecular cloud along with a young star cluster; one or more supernova events in this group polluted the gas, which turned into the sun and its planetary system.” Douglas NC LaneOne of the authors of the research published in the scientific journal natural astronomy. «Although this scenario has already been proposed in the past, the strength of our study is the use Notes at longer wavelengths it’s a Advanced statistical analysis to infer a The quantification of model probability».

Researchers were able to visualize the flow of aluminum-26 using telescopes that detect Gamma rays emitted by radionuclides Short-lived, it travels from the nearby star cluster to the star-forming region. “The enrichment process we are seeing in Ophiuchus is consistent with what happened during the formation of the solar system five billion years ago,” he said. John Forbes, first author of the research. “Once we looked at this good example of how the process could happen, we tried it Create templates».

Forbes and her colleagues developed different scenarios That takes into account every star that might exist in this region, including its mass, age, and probability of exploding as a supernova. The models also include potential aluminum 26 production from stellar winds and supernovae. “We now have enough information to say that there is a 59% chance that this is from a supernova and 68% of it being from other sources and not just a supernova,” Forbes said.

Lin noted that this type of statistical analysis assigns probabilities to scenarios that astronomers have discussed over the past 50 years. This is the new direction of astronomy: Determine the probabilityAnd here, from a probabilistic point of view, the constellation Ofiuco offers one of the most interesting examples to return to Our Solar System’s Past, and to better understand the mechanisms of formation.

Top image credits: NASA, JPL-Caltech, WISE Team