Astronomers map mysterious element in space

Date:
February 23, 2022
Source:
Lund University
Summary:
A research team has provided an important clue to the origin of the
element Ytterbium in the Milky Way, by showing that the element
largely originates from supernova explosions. The groundbreaking
research also provides new opportunities for studying the evolution
of our galaxy.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A research team led by Lund University in Sweden has provided an important
clue to the origin of the element Ytterbium in the Milky Way, by showing
that the element largely originates from supernova explosions. The groundbreaking research also provides new opportunities for studying
the evolution of our galaxy. The study is published in Astronomy & Astrophysics.


========================================================================== Ytterbium is one of four elements in the periodic table named after
the Ytterby mine in the Stockholm archipelago. The element was first
discovered in the black mineral gadolinite, which was first identified
in the Ytterby mine in 1787.

Ytterbium is interesting because it may have two different cosmic origins.

Researchers believe that one half comes from heavy stars with short lives, while the other half comes from more regular stars, much like the sun,
and that they create Ytterbium in the final stages of their relatively
long lives.

"By studying stars formed at different times in the Milky Way, we have
been able to investigate how fast the Ytterbium content increased in
the galaxy.

What we have succeeded in doing is adding relatively young stars to the
study," says Martin Montelius, astronomy researcher at Lund University
at the time of the research, and now at the University of Groningen.

It has been speculated that Ytterbium was thrown into space by supernova explosions, stellar winds and planetary nebulae. There, it accumulated
in large space clouds from which new stars formed.

By examining high-quality spectra of about 30 stars in the sun's vicinity,
the researchers were able to provide important experimental support for
the theory of the cosmic origin of Ytterbium. It seems that Ytterbium
largely originates from supernova explosions.

"The instrument we used is a super-sensitive spectrometer that can detect infrared light in high resolution. It was used with two telescopes
in the southern United States, one in Arizona and one in Texas," says
Martin Montelius.

Since the Ytterbium analysis was done using infrared light, it will
now be possible to study large areas of the Milky Way that lie behind impenetrable dust. Infrared light can get through the dust in the same
way that red light from a sunset can get through the Earth's atmosphere.

"Our study opens up the possibility of mapping extensive parts of the
Milky Way that have previously been unexplored. This means that we will
be able to compare the evolutionary history in different parts of the
galaxy," concludes Rebecca Forsberg, doctoral student in astronomy at
Lund University.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Lund_University. Note: Content may
be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. M. Montelius, R. Forsberg, N. Ryde, H. Jo"nsson, M. Afşar, A.

Johanssen, K. F. Kaplan, H. Kim, G. Mace, C. Sneden, B. Thorsbro.

Chemical Evolution of Ytterbium in the Galactic
Disk. Astronomy & Astrophysics (submitted to arXiv), 2022 DOI:
10.48550/arXiv.2202.00691 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220223104905.htm

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