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The oldest planet in the universe.
The oldest planet in the universe known to modern scientists, has been opened recently. In 2003, thanks to the telescope's images Hobble, located in Earth orbit, American scientists have received information confirming the existence of the planet. Age of the planet is 12.7 billion years. She called the name of the Biblical patriarch long-lived, who lived 969 years - "Methuselah».
5 photo + letter
Olga via Garagaya
"Methuselah» (Methuselah) found in the constellation Scorpius in the globular cluster M4. This cluster is at a distance of approximately 5, 6000 light years from our solar system. Back in 1987, this cluster was discovered millisecond pulsar, a neutron PSR B1620-26. In 1995, several stars have been identified, the so-called white dwarfs, which began to form in the Universe after 200 million. Years after the Big Bang.
One of the discovered white dwarf star has appeared in a gravitational interaction with the pulsar. Based on the analysis of the interaction of the pulsar and a white dwarf star, scientists have concluded the existence of a planet orbiting the pair at a distance of about 2 billion miles (roughly the same distance Uranus is from the Sun).
With a telescope Hobble, scientists were able to calculate the mass of the planet, which was about 4, 8 × 1027 kg, which is almost 2, 5 times the mass of the largest planet of the solar system - Jupiter. This discovery enabled scientists to take a fresh look at the process of the formation of the universe. Previously it was thought that globular clusters, due to the lack of heavy elements in them, little can be formed planet. However, the results showed that the object detected based on their size and weight, is neither a star nor even a brown dwarf, namely the planet.
"Methuselah" was formed almost at the dawn of the formation of our galaxy, around a young star, similar to our sun. Planet survived and radiation from nearby stars, and shock waves from their explosions and frantic ultraviolet light - all that which is accompanied by destruction of the old and the birth of new stars.
In a moment, spinning in slow motion gravitational dance, "Methuselah" with his star had been captured by the pulsar. Most likely, before the pulsar has a companion, but for some reason it lost, and therefore caught in a trap of "Methuselah". Over time, the star of "Methuselah" has become a red giant and then cooling down, reduced to the status of the white dwarf.
It is likely that the "Methuselah" - is a gas giant with no solid surface like the Earth. Since it was formed so early in the development of the universe, its composition is not very rich in the number of elements such as oxygen and carbon. For this reason, it is highly unlikely that on this planet there ever was life. Unfortunately, I could hardly exist a civilization that was witness to the ancient history of this planet. Stories that started almost from the beginning of time.
Source:
5 photo + letter
Olga via Garagaya
"Methuselah» (Methuselah) found in the constellation Scorpius in the globular cluster M4. This cluster is at a distance of approximately 5, 6000 light years from our solar system. Back in 1987, this cluster was discovered millisecond pulsar, a neutron PSR B1620-26. In 1995, several stars have been identified, the so-called white dwarfs, which began to form in the Universe after 200 million. Years after the Big Bang.
One of the discovered white dwarf star has appeared in a gravitational interaction with the pulsar. Based on the analysis of the interaction of the pulsar and a white dwarf star, scientists have concluded the existence of a planet orbiting the pair at a distance of about 2 billion miles (roughly the same distance Uranus is from the Sun).
With a telescope Hobble, scientists were able to calculate the mass of the planet, which was about 4, 8 × 1027 kg, which is almost 2, 5 times the mass of the largest planet of the solar system - Jupiter. This discovery enabled scientists to take a fresh look at the process of the formation of the universe. Previously it was thought that globular clusters, due to the lack of heavy elements in them, little can be formed planet. However, the results showed that the object detected based on their size and weight, is neither a star nor even a brown dwarf, namely the planet.
"Methuselah" was formed almost at the dawn of the formation of our galaxy, around a young star, similar to our sun. Planet survived and radiation from nearby stars, and shock waves from their explosions and frantic ultraviolet light - all that which is accompanied by destruction of the old and the birth of new stars.
In a moment, spinning in slow motion gravitational dance, "Methuselah" with his star had been captured by the pulsar. Most likely, before the pulsar has a companion, but for some reason it lost, and therefore caught in a trap of "Methuselah". Over time, the star of "Methuselah" has become a red giant and then cooling down, reduced to the status of the white dwarf.
It is likely that the "Methuselah" - is a gas giant with no solid surface like the Earth. Since it was formed so early in the development of the universe, its composition is not very rich in the number of elements such as oxygen and carbon. For this reason, it is highly unlikely that on this planet there ever was life. Unfortunately, I could hardly exist a civilization that was witness to the ancient history of this planet. Stories that started almost from the beginning of time.
Source: