Space
ALMA Telescope Captures New Shape of Coldest Object in the Universe-Boomerang Nebula
Benita Matilda
First Posted: Oct 25, 2013 08:01 AM EDT
The ALMA telescope has provided latest images of a young planetary nebula that is 5,000 light years away in the constellation Centaurus.
Boomerang Nebula- the cosmic object has intrigued astronomers for several years. It has earned the title of being the coldest known object in the Universe. The temperature is just 1 degree Kelvin (minus 458 Fahrenheit).
The new look of the Halloween ghost like object was provided by Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) telescope in Chile. The astronomers are learning about the frigid properties of the cosmic object and are using it to determine the exact shape of the eery looking object, according to the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) press release.
Boomerang Nebula was initially observed with a ground based telescope. Later observations made in 2003 by the Hubble Space telescope revealed that the star replicated a bow-tie-like-structure. But the latest observations of ALMA show that the images produced by Hubble were just a fragment of the star as the twin lobes noticed in the image were a trick of the light as noticed at visible wavelengths.
"This ultra-cold object is extremely intriguing and we're learning much more about its true nature with ALMA," said Raghvendra Sahai, a researcher and principal scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "What seemed like a double lobe, or 'boomerang' shape, from Earth-based optical telescopes, is actually a much broader structure that is expanding rapidly into space."
Tthe astronomers suggest that the Boomerang is a pre-planetary nebula, where the central star is not hot enough to emit the UV radiation to generate the glow. The startling reflection off the dust grains is what makes the nebula noticeable.
The outflow of gas from this star is seen rapidly expanding and cooling itself. This is similar to the principle of refrigerator that use expanding gas and produce cold temperatures. Based on how the nebula gulped in the cosmic microwave background radiation, the researchers measured the temperature of the gas in the nebula.
"When astronomers looked at this object in 2003 with Hubble, they saw a very classic 'hourglass' shape," commented Sahai. "Many planetary nebulae have this same double-lobe appearance, which is the result of streams of high-speed gas being jettisoned from the star. The jets then excavate holes in a surrounding cloud of gas that was ejected by the star even earlier in its lifetime as a red giant."
A dense lane of millimetre sized dust grains surrounding the star was also discovered, and the researchers state this explains the hourglass shape of the outer cloud. This helps the astronomers understand how stars die and become planetary nebulae.
"This is important for the understanding of how stars die and become planetary nebulae," said Sahai. "Using ALMA, we were quite literally and figuratively able to shed new light on the death throes of a Sun-like star."
The outer fringes of the nebula have started to get warmer even though they are slightly colder than the cosmic microwave background. The warming may be triggered due to photoelectric effect -- an effect first proposed by Einstein in which light is absorbed by solid material, which then re-emits electrons.
The findings was published in the Astrophysical journal.
See Now:
NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone
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First Posted: Oct 25, 2013 08:01 AM EDT
The ALMA telescope has provided latest images of a young planetary nebula that is 5,000 light years away in the constellation Centaurus.
Boomerang Nebula- the cosmic object has intrigued astronomers for several years. It has earned the title of being the coldest known object in the Universe. The temperature is just 1 degree Kelvin (minus 458 Fahrenheit).
The new look of the Halloween ghost like object was provided by Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) telescope in Chile. The astronomers are learning about the frigid properties of the cosmic object and are using it to determine the exact shape of the eery looking object, according to the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) press release.
Boomerang Nebula was initially observed with a ground based telescope. Later observations made in 2003 by the Hubble Space telescope revealed that the star replicated a bow-tie-like-structure. But the latest observations of ALMA show that the images produced by Hubble were just a fragment of the star as the twin lobes noticed in the image were a trick of the light as noticed at visible wavelengths.
"This ultra-cold object is extremely intriguing and we're learning much more about its true nature with ALMA," said Raghvendra Sahai, a researcher and principal scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "What seemed like a double lobe, or 'boomerang' shape, from Earth-based optical telescopes, is actually a much broader structure that is expanding rapidly into space."
Tthe astronomers suggest that the Boomerang is a pre-planetary nebula, where the central star is not hot enough to emit the UV radiation to generate the glow. The startling reflection off the dust grains is what makes the nebula noticeable.
The outflow of gas from this star is seen rapidly expanding and cooling itself. This is similar to the principle of refrigerator that use expanding gas and produce cold temperatures. Based on how the nebula gulped in the cosmic microwave background radiation, the researchers measured the temperature of the gas in the nebula.
"When astronomers looked at this object in 2003 with Hubble, they saw a very classic 'hourglass' shape," commented Sahai. "Many planetary nebulae have this same double-lobe appearance, which is the result of streams of high-speed gas being jettisoned from the star. The jets then excavate holes in a surrounding cloud of gas that was ejected by the star even earlier in its lifetime as a red giant."
A dense lane of millimetre sized dust grains surrounding the star was also discovered, and the researchers state this explains the hourglass shape of the outer cloud. This helps the astronomers understand how stars die and become planetary nebulae.
"This is important for the understanding of how stars die and become planetary nebulae," said Sahai. "Using ALMA, we were quite literally and figuratively able to shed new light on the death throes of a Sun-like star."
The outer fringes of the nebula have started to get warmer even though they are slightly colder than the cosmic microwave background. The warming may be triggered due to photoelectric effect -- an effect first proposed by Einstein in which light is absorbed by solid material, which then re-emits electrons.
The findings was published in the Astrophysical journal.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone