Astronomers have solved the mystery of white dwarfs, which is that the surfaces of many of these objects are contaminated with heavy elements that would quickly sink to the core. About it reported in a paper published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
The researchers simulated a white dwarf that received a “natal kick” during its formation, caused by asymmetric mass loss. This changes both the motion of the white dwarf itself and the dynamics of any surrounding material.
In 80 percent of the model runs, the scientists observed that the result was that the orbits of comets and asteroids between 30 and 240 astronomical units from the white dwarf became elongated and aligned. Moreover, 40 percent of subsequently absorbed bodies come from orbits in which they move retrograde, that is, in the opposite direction.
Even following a hundred million years, nearby asteroids still had elongated orbits and moved as a single unit, which had never been observed before. This leads to long-lasting accretion events and may explain why heavy elements are constantly found on the surface of white dwarfs.
#BB.lv #mystery #white #dwarfs #solved
2024-05-06 23:07:21
