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A group of astronomers carried out the detection of the first unstable radioactive molecule outside the solar system, using the ALMA telescope and NOEMA.
The radioactive part of the molecule is an isotope of aluminum, observations reveal that the isotope has spread in the space after the collision of two stars, which has left a remainder known as CK Vulpeculae
It is the first time that a direct observation of this element is made in a known source, since it was record of a earlier identification of this isotope, but it came from the detection of gamma rays and its exact origin was unknown.
The team, led by Tomasz Kami? ski (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, USA), They detected a source of the radioactive isotope of aluminum 26.
The source, known as CK Vulpeculae was seen for the first time in 1670, when observers saw how it looked. to a "new star", brilliant and red, detailed the European Observatory Austral (ESO, for its acronym in English).
Although it was initially visible to the naked eye, it faded quickly and now they are needed telescopes to see the remains of this fusion, a tenuous central star surrounded by a halo incandescent matter that results.
"The first observation of this isotope in a stellar-type object is also important in a larger one: that of the chemical evolution of the galaxy.This is the first time that the source of the radioactive nuclide aluminum-26 is directly identified, "says Kami? Ski
The group of scientists detected the only spectral signature of molecules composed of aluminum 26 and fluorine in the remains that surround CK Vulpeculae, located two thousand years ago When these molecules rotate and fall into space, they emit a distinctive luminous imprint at millimeter wavelengths, known as the rotational transition. it is the best way to detect the molecules.
The observation of this isotope offers new information on the fusion process that created CK Vulpeculae. In addition, it demonstrates that deep, dense and internal layers of a star, where heavy elements are created, as well as radioactive isotopes, can be stirred and thrown into space by stellar collisions.
The team concludes that it is unlikely that the production of aluminum-26 by objects similar to CK Vulpeculae is the main source in the Milky Way.
NTX / ICB / MAG
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