Astronomers poring through a now-retired spacetelescope's data have ??? ?? ????spotted a bizarre family of fledgling stars breaking all the rules of how they're expected to behave.
The star group, which scientists have recently named Ophion, consists of more than 1,000 stars that formed together but are now scattering at high speeds. Stars that share the same birthplace usually migrate together for millions to billions of years.
But Ophion, just 20 million years old, is already flying apart in a fraction of the time it’d usually take to disperse. Researchers say all of these relatives are about to become estranged, completely removed from their ancestral home.
The discovery, made with the European Space Agency's Gaia star-surveying spacecraft, could change how astronomers find and study stellar groups — and reveal previously unknown ways they shape the Milky Way.
"Ophion is filled with stars that are set to rush out across the galaxy in a totally haphazard, uncoordinated way, which is far from what we’d expect for a family so big," said Dylan Huson of Western Washington University in a statement. "It’s like no other star family we’ve seen before."
In this graphic, dots show the location of Ophion, a young star family discovered by the now-retired Gaia mission. Credit: ESA / Gaia / DPAC graphic To find Ophion, scientists used a new machine-learning computer tool to analyze data from Gaia, which mapped the galaxy for more than a decade but recently retired because it ran out of fuel. Though the mission concludedthis year, these new findings are a tease to another vast data releaseexpected in 2026.
Gaia has revealed long strings of stars that have stayed together for billions of years and even uncovered old star streams that helped shape the galaxy itself.
The tool, aptly named Gaia Net, has sifted through the massive amount of survey data and figured out basic traits of stars, such as their temperatures, sizes, ages, and ingredients.
By searching for young stars, Gaia Net homed in on the young family about 650 light-yearsaway, a relatively short distance in cosmic scales. The new paper,led by Huson, appears in The Astrophysical Journal.
The exact reason for Ophion’s strange behavior is still unclear. One idea is that powerful events near the group — like explosions of old stars into supernovas — might have pushed the stars apart. Another idea is that nearby star groups may have disrupted Ophion with their energy and gravity.
Whatever the cause, Ophion seemingly escaped traditional methods of detection because they rely on spotting stars that move similarly through space. Because of that, there may have been a confirmation bias in only finding star families that behave in that specific way. Perhaps more star groups that don't fit the mold, previously eluding researchers, are waiting to be found, too.
"Previous methods identified families by clustering similarly moving stars together, but Ophion would have slipped through this net," said Marina Kounkel, a co-author based at the University of North Florida, in a statement. "Without the huge, high-quality datasets from Gaia, and the new models we can now use to dig into these, we may have been missing a big piece of the stellar puzzle."
Canine Cinema
Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger are back after 'technical issue'
Facebook will remove posts praising Atlanta shooting
'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier' is another Marvel TV hit: Review
Hirahara to Discuss ‘Hiroshima Boy’ at JANM
Behold the BMW i4, an electric sedan with a 300
Weather experts warn of brutal storms, tornado outbreaks in the South
Elon Musk is now the official 'Technoking' of Tesla, whatever that means
UnitOne and Miyake Taiko at Armstrong Theatre
Zoom Escaper makes it easy to sabotage that unbearable Zoom meeting
Early Works of Seijun Suzuki at Egyptian Theatre
Is Apple planning a spring event to introduce new iPads and AirPods?
ASUS' new ROG 5 phone packs an absurd amount of mobile gaming power
Fighting violence against women, we need men to be part of the conversation
PAAWWW Panel
Iceland volcanic eruption: Feast your on eyes on fresh lava flows
'Falcon and the Winter Soldier' has us pondering Bucky's sexuality
Best refurbished deals from eBay: Apple, ASUS, LG, and more (UK deal)
Lecture, Exhibit on Akita Dogs at Japan Foundation
EPA climate webpage rebooted by Biden administration after being axed
Can everyone quit hanging out with dolphins while we're stuck in the office?Trump White House blocks CNN, New York Times, BuzzFeed, Politico from press briefingFans wave what appear to be Russian flags in support of Trump at CPACChrissy Teigen and John Legend continued to be irritatingly cute at the OscarsHow to predict the president's next bogus tweet: Just watch Fox NewsThe Oscars red carpet was its own live action 'Beauty and the Beast'Florence and the Machine's Opera House show fined for being too loudWhat to expect from Instagram's glitzy portrait studio at the Vanity Fair Oscar PartyMuslim Americans' campaign to repair Jewish cemetery gets the J.K. Rowling bumpBrie Larson, like everyone else, didn't seem thrilled with Casey Affleck's Oscar win Little Tokyo Historical Society Hosts First Panel at Anime Expo Strengthening Memory Through Rhythm Parkinson's Support Group to Hold Meeting on Saturday Google Doodle Celebrates Photographer Corky Lee Anime Expo Announces Anime Expo Ontario Kishida, DeSantis Reaffirm Importance of U.S. Politicians, News Networks Misidentify Hideo Kojima as Assassin Senior Ballroom Dance Workshop This Saturday in Torrance Next on 'Asian Pacific America': 'Like a Rolling Stone' Documentary L.A. City Council Approves MOU with Metro for Development of Little Tokyo Parcels
0.159s , 9760.8984375 kb
Copyright © 2025 Powered by 【??? ?? ????】Scientists discover a rebellious star family defying cosmic order,Feature Flash
