The stars are the cosmic ferment of life. Perhaps that is why Stephen Hawking said that we must remember to look up at them: try to understand what we see and ask ourselves what makes the universe exist. And, without a doubt, our origins (and the answers to them) are found in the stars.
That is why it is still valid to look at the sky with curiosity: we still have a lot to discover and learn from the stars. Thus, hundreds of astronomers are dedicated to investigating the night skies to decipher the secrets that our galaxy and its stars still hold, following Hawking’s wise advice.
To begin with, we can learn about some of the unusual stars that inhabit the Milky Way, many of which remain a mystery to science, since they break many of the rules that according to astronomers should govern these luminous stars.
Now if you want to digitally explore the galaxy, you can do so in the Google tool 100,000 Stars: a galactic journey from the seat of your computer.
An eternal supernova, the Przybylski star
In the constellation of Centaurus is this peculiar star, which is four times the size and whose chemistry calls into question the laws of the universe. Stars do not normally fuse any elements heavier than nickel; On the other hand, Przybylski does so, despite the fact that the fusion of elements such as uranium is only seen in violent events, such as the birth of supernovae.
Furthermore, these are elements with a short lifespan, contrary to those that usually arise from nuclear fission. We exist thanks to the fact that elements such as helium and hydrogen originate from this phenomenon (and therefore, it is true that. If all the stars were like this, perhaps there would be no life on Earth as we know it.
The luminous spontaneity of Tabby’s star
Also known as WTF Star, an acronym that can be translated as “Where is the flow?”, or also, in a play on meanings, as “What the hell?”, the Tabby is a star with an unpredictable luminosity flow that It has fascinated astronomers since its discovery. Its brightness changes without periodicity, which has led us to think that there are comets that orbit the star and that produce these changes with the naked eye (that is, they do not come from the star itself). Furthermore, it is believed that it could be alien astroengineering that causes these sudden changes: a kind of energy megaproject by beings from another planet who want to take advantage of Tabby’s energy (and which has a name: the Dyson Sphere).
An old inhabitant of the Universe: HD 140283
Almost as old as the universe, this star is estimated to be more than 13 million years old and formed shortly after the Big Bang. It is not of the first generation, since it is composed of hydrogen and helium, with very few metals, which indicates that at least one generation of stars preceded it.
Vega, the self-exiled
Vega is one of astronomers’ favorite stars, as it is the fifth brightest in the night sky, apparently because it is only 25 light years from Earth. But it’s actually brighter than it should be, and we still don’t know why.
To this we must add its ovular shape, which is believed to be caused by the rapid rotation of the star that distorts its shape, and which could cause temperature variations around its surface. Furthermore, its speed is causing a kind of self-exile from its original position, moving it away from the Earth.
Stellar cannibalism: HV 2112
When we refer to HV 2112 we should talk about stars, and not a star. This is a case of cannibalism, according to physicists Kip Thorne and Anna Żytkow, who have theorized about the phenomenon from which this could happen: when a star is the product of cannibalism by a supergiant star, in what they call a “step and run”. They called it the Thorne–Żytkow Object, and so far HV2112 appears to be the first example of this phenomenon.
Look, the star with a tail
In “the whale”, Cetus, is Mira: the brightest star in the constellation and which gives its name to other stars with the same variables. Among the most fascinating of these variables is the fact that it is a star that leaves a peculiar trail of matter coming from its extreme layers, which creates a trail no less than 13 light years long, that is, about three times the length of the star. distance that separates the sun from the nearest star.
The giant of the universe: Uy Scuti
This hypergiant is located in the Shield constellation, and is the largest star known so far. If it were our star… well, it would rather be our entire solar system, because due to its size it would reach the limits of Saturn. Its volume is 5 billion times the size of the sun. Of course, it is not the most massive star: it is even less dense than the sun.
* Images: 1) 100,000 stars; 2) Wikipedia; 3) NASA/JPL; 4) Digitized Sky Survey/NASA; 5) Steemit; 6) Casey Reed/Penn State University; 7) Science Magazine; 8) Wikipedia