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For decades, astronomers around the world have been trying to solve the mystery of gamma radiation, which has been measured time and time again by X-ray telescopes in our galaxy. The emissions have an energy of 1.809 megaelectronvolt (MeV) and must be explained by the beta decay of the isotope 26 of aluminum. According to estimates, there are about two solar mbades of the isotope in our galaxy alone. The source of the isotope remains a mystery. The researchers detected the radioactive molecule for the first time in a celestial object of the Milky Way.
Isotope of aluminum found in the Milky Way
Despite intensive research, the source of the aluminum isotope remains hidden for a long time. This is partly because the X-ray telescopes have too low resolution. A team of astronomers around Tomasz Kaminski of the Harvard-Smithsonian Astrophysical Center in Cambridge was able to locate the Milky Way isotope 26 through the badysis of observational data. various radio telescopes, including the ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter / Subillimeter Array) in Chile. Astronomers were able to identify the star CK Vulpeculae as the source of the isotope. The star made in 1670 by itself, because it suddenly turned extremely bright. In 2015, astronomers identified a collision of stars as the cause of this event
The discovery only partially explains the radioactive molecules
Kaminski and his team have now discovered the aluminum monofluoride in this body celestial of the radioactive molecule. This suggests that the aluminum-26 isotope is present in a very small concentration in a small region in the center of the star. " While the radioactive 26-Al isotope is virtually absent from sun-like objects, it is only seven times rarer in CK Vul than the more abundant isotope 17-Al ", say the astronomers. The team suspects that the isotope is produced in the remaining star of CK Vulpeculae
The discovery is the first time that a source of radioactive aluminum has been identified. In addition, astronomers first observed a radioactive molecule in space. However, the discovery does not explain the large amounts of radioactive aluminum in the Milky Way. It is estimated that all galactic sources together produce about one to three solar mbades of 26 Al per million years. But based on our estimates for CK Vulpeculae, there would be about 1,100 such collisions in the Milky Way each year. This is unrealistic "researchers report.These star collisions occur once or twice a decade, so researchers continue to search for sources of radioactive aluminum in the galaxy. 19659006]
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