一个高度放大的恒星,红移6.2
Brian Welch1, Dan Coe2,3,4, Jose M Diego5
1Center for Astrophysical Sciences, Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA. bwelch7@jhu.edu.
Nature
|March 31, 2022
概括
天文学家利用星系团的引力透镜发现了一颗遥远的放大恒星. 这颗恒久且高度放大的恒星为研究早期宇宙恒星群体提供了独特的机会.
科学领域:
- 宇宙学和天体物理学
- 重力透镜
- 外行星研究
背景情况:
- 星系团充当强大的引力镜头, 放大背景物体.
- 强大的引力透镜可以将星系拉伸成弧形,并显著提高背景源的亮度.
- 之前发现的透镜恒星处于较低的红移状态,并表现出临时的微透镜效应.
研究的目的:
- 报告一个遥远的恒星的发现和特征.
- 通过极大放大来研究早期宇宙中的恒星特性.
- 确认星系团在使我们能够观测遥远的物体中的作用.
主要方法:
- 使用星系团WHL0137-08引力透镜放大背景恒星.
- 使用四个独立的镜头模型来估计放大因子.
- 在3.5年内进行长期成像和后续观察,以评估亮度的恒定性.
主要成果:
- 发现一个红移6.2的恒星 (大爆炸后的9亿年),被放大了成千上万倍.
- 在3.5年内观察到持续的放大和亮度 (AB大小27.2),与短暂的微镜星不同.
- 计算出 - 10 ± 2 的绝对紫外线强度,与大质量恒星 (> 50 太阳质量) 相一致.
结论:
- 这一发现证明了引力透镜在早期宇宙中揭示大质量恒星的潜力.
- 放大的持久性为详细研究提供了稳定的目标.
- 预计詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜的进一步观测将证实光谱分类和属性.
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