They discover the first radioactive molecule in interstellar space

Washington, July 31 (Prensa Latina) US astronomers have detected the first unstable radioactive molecule outside the solar system, with a mbad equivalent to a quarter of that of Pluto, published today by scientists. digital media.

This is aluminum-26, the radioactive part of which is an isotope of this metal that has dispersed into space after the collision of two stars, two thousand years light of the Earth, which 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. Previously, this isotope had already been identified, but it came from gamma ray detection and its exact origin was unknown.

The CK Vulpeculae source was first seen in 1670 and at that time, astronomers were observing a new

Although initially visible to the naked eye, it quickly disappeared and powerful telescopes are now needed to see the remains of this fusion, a tenuous central star surrounded by a halo of incandescent matter that flows from it.

The observation of aluminum 26 shows that deep, dense layers of a star, where heavy elements and radioactive isotopes are forged, can be shaken and projected into the atmosphere. space by stellar collisions, explains Tomasz KamiÅ "ski, leader of research.

Astronomers also determined that the two fused stars had relatively low mbades, one of them are between 0.8 and 2 , 5 times that of the Sun.

According to scientists, aluminum-26 will disintegrate to be more stable because of its radioactivity, and in this process one of the protons of the nucleus will decrease in the neutron ., which emits a high energy photon that is observed as a gamma ray.

This study leaves the door open for further badysis of radioactive molecules, says KamiÅ "ski.

oda / lrc