Omega Centauri: Indian Institute of Astrophysics team surprised by their discovery on hot stars and white dwarfs

Source: The post is based on the article “Indian Institute of Astrophysics team surprised by their discovery on hot stars and white dwarfs” published in PIB on 30th December 2022

What is the News?

Astronomers at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics(IIA) while studying Omega Centauri have found strange hot stars that emitted less ultraviolet radiation than expected.

These strange hot stars were detected in the cluster using the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UVIT) images on AstroSat.

What is Omega Centauri?

Omega Centauri is the most massive globular cluster system in our galaxy. It is located in the southern constellation Centaurus.

It contains approximately 10 million stars and is about 16,000 light-years away. It also includes stars of a variety of ages, whereas other globular clusters contain stars from only one generation.

What are Globular Clusters?

Globular clusters are spherical aggregates of several thousand to millions of stars bound by gravity. 

These systems are thought to have formed early on in the Universe and can serve as perfect astrophysical laboratories for astronomers to understand how stars evolve through various phases. 

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