“Not what it seems. Scientists make stunning discovery in star cluster Gran 5 November 7, 05:30 Share: Gran 5. The seven spectroscopic target stars are marked with green circles (Photo: Lim et al.) Author: Kira Borysikhina Astronomers have made a surprising discovery while studying the globular cluster Gran 5. It turned out that this cluster, which is a gravitationally bound group of stars, consists of two different populations of stars with different chemical”, — write on: ua.news
Gran 5. The seven spectroscopic target stars are marked with green circles (Photo: Lim et al.)
Astronomers made a surprising discovery while studying the globular cluster Gran 5. It turned out that this cluster, which is a gravitationally bound group of stars, consists of two different populations of stars with different chemical compositions.
This discovery, described in a paper published on the arXiv preprints server, sheds new light on the processes of galaxy formation and evolution.
Globular clusters are among the oldest objects in the universe and serve as a kind “time capsules”, which allow studying the early stages of the evolution of galaxies. Gran 5, a relatively young cluster located near the center of our Galaxy, has become the object of close attention of scientists.
Using the powerful Gemini-South telescope, astronomers conducted a detailed analysis of the spectral composition of the light emitted by the stars in the cluster. The results of the study showed that the stars in Gran 5 can be divided into two groups that differ in the content of heavy elements.
This suggests that the cluster has a complex formation history and could have formed as a result of the merger of several smaller star systems.
The discovery of two stellar populations in Gran 5 raises new questions for astronomers about the processes that occurred in the early universe. Scientists should conduct additional studies to find out how widespread similar phenomena are in other globular clusters and how they are related to the general evolution of galaxies.