University of Oklahoma astronomers say they have identified two white dwarf stars considered the oldest and closest known to man. These 11- to 12-billion-year-old stars, just 100 light years from Earth, are the closest known examples of the oldest stars in the universe forming soon after the Big Bang, a university release said. White dwarf stars are the burned-out cores of stars similar to the sun. "A white dwarf is like a hot stove; once the stove is off, it cools slowly over time," OU physics and astronomy Professor Mikremin Kilic said. "By measuring how cool the stove is, we can tell how long it has been off. The two stars we identified have been cooling for billions of years." The two white dwarfs are located in the constellations Taurus and Ursa Major and Kilic and his colleagues obtained infrared images using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope to measure the temperature of the stars. "It is like a crime scene investigation," Kilic said. "We measure the temperature of the dead body -- in our case a dead star, then determine the time of the crime. These two white dwarf stars have been dead and cooling off almost for the entire history of the universe."
GMT 16:03 2018 Wednesday ,28 November
Executive Office of Arab Ministers of Communications starts in CairoGMT 09:09 2018 Thursday ,15 November
Syria, Iran discuss enhancing scientific cooperationGMT 09:53 2018 Wednesday ,07 November
Drones bring innovation to Africa, from Morocco to MalawiGMT 11:31 2018 Wednesday ,17 October
Japan high-tech fair CEATEC opens in ChibaGMT 14:03 2018 Monday ,08 October
American scientists awarded 2018 Prize in Economic SciencesGMT 07:35 2018 Monday ,08 October
First foreign space agency opens in Abu DhabiGMT 10:47 2018 Sunday ,07 October
Bahrain hosts World Robotics Olympiad2018GMT 09:20 2018 Thursday ,04 October
UAE participates in World Space WeekMaintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©
Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©
Send your comments
Your comment as a visitor