New Delhi: Scientists have discovered that the sun contains 55 per cent more silver than they had previously estimated.
Silver is one of those elements, and it takes a violent cosmic event, such an exploding star or a neutron star collision, for it to be created.
Therefore, by measuring the amount of silver in a star, astronomers can get a better idea of the kind of cosmic events that may have taken place across the universe.
To measure the amount of an element in the sun, researchers study the tiny dark lines that the element leaves in the sunlight.
According to revised estimates, there is 55 per cent more silver in the sun’s atmosphere.
In a recent study published in Astronomy & Astrophysics , Swedish researchers used Tetralith, a supercomputer at the National Supercomputer Center at Linköping University, to analyse how silver behaves inside the sun’s atmosphere.
“The new knowledge about the Sun’s composition is important for the understanding of other stars, planets and cosmic material, because the sun is one of astronomy’s key reference points,” Sema Caliskan, who conducted the work during her PhD studies at the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Uppsala University, said in a statement .
New Delhi: Scientists have discovered that the sun contains 55 per cent more silver than they had previously estimated. The discovery solves a dilemma that has long puzzled astronomers — how could the sun, which formed around the same time as several primitive meteorites, contain far less silver compared to them?
Also read: Sleep disorders leave you tired? They may also alter your brain, US study finds
Why does silver matter?
The formation of heavy elements in the universe has always fascinated astronomers. Silver is one of those elements, and it takes a violent cosmic event, such an exploding star or a neutron star collision, for it to be created.
Therefore, by measuring the amount of silver in a star, astronomers can get a better idea of the kind of cosmic events that may have taken place across the universe. To do so, the sun acts as a benchmark and if the measurement of silver in the sun is wrong, it could interfere with estimations of other stars in the universe.
To measure the amount of an element in the sun, researchers study the tiny dark lines that the element leaves in the sunlight. So far, models that have been studying the sun have assumed that its atmosphere behaves in a uniform way, but the sun is far more dynamic. The hot gas that rises, cools, sinks, changes the temperature of the sun constantly, and affects how various atoms in the atmosphere interact with one another.
Now researchers have come up with a more realistic and sophisticated computer model that can factor in the Sun’s volatile atmosphere while calculating the amount of silver. According to revised estimates, there is 55 per cent more silver in the sun’s atmosphere.
Researchers are likely to use the same methodology to study other stars too.
“By studying the light of stars of different types and ages, we hope to understand where silver is formed in the universe, and how it has been distributed throughout the Milky Way over time,” said Sema Caliskan, a PhD student at the department of physics and astronomy.
