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HERMES Observations Reveal Permature Stellar Death in Local Globular Clusters
A recent [arxiv.org] study [monash.edu] of Messier 4 [u-strasbg.fr] (M4), and other local globular clusters [wikipedia.org], appears to partially contradict our current understanding of stellar evolution.
Using the High Efficiency and Resolution Multi-Element Spectrograph (HERMES [aao.gov.au]), a team of astronomers from the Monash University, the Australian Astronomical Observactory (AAO) and the Max Planck Institute (MPI) were able to detect the chemical composition of the stars in M4. Their observations revealed that approximately half of the stars in the cluster appear to have skipped the red giant [wikipedia.org] phase of their evolution, and proceeded directly to the white dwarf [wikipedia.org] stage. This remarkable transition is contrary to computational simulations and our current understanding of stellar evolution;
... [the] chemical analysis has revealed that premature death tends to only occur in the sodium-rich/oxygen-poor stars. The surprising thing is that our best models of these stars do not predict that they will die young.
The exact process which causes this transition remains unknown. The team hope that, with further observation with HERMES, they may shed light thereon, and better our understanding of stellar evolution.
