Chapter 123: The situation inside the Betelgeuse tetrahydrogen envelope
In southern Yunnan, at the Observatory Observation Array Center, Xu Chuan found several doctoral fellows from NTU.
At this moment, these people were discussing something fiercely in a laboratory. On the side, there were several scientific researchers from the Observatory Observation Array Center, who were also discussing something simultaneously.
Without making a sound, Xu Chuan slowed down and leaned over to listen.
"Perhaps it is caused by the asymmetric envelope activity of Betelgeuse. Compared with other observational data, the data in this area are indeed abnormal."
"I have checked the original observation data and compared it with historical data. Judging from the infrared spectrum analysis data, this abnormal observation data is not eye-catching in history. More abnormal data than this have been observed on Betelgeuse.
."
"For example, in 2007, the astronomical observatory of the country where the sun never sets observed the abnormal expansion of Betelgeuse. At that time, the overall shape was stretched from the standard circle of a table tennis ball into the shape of an egg."
"I know this incident. Later analysis is that the activity of Betelgeuse caused the gas envelope to expel a massive amount of material outwards."
"So I think there is nothing wrong with the data. The problem most likely lies in the data calculation. Calculating a star with two hugely different diameters is unscientific and directly violates common sense."
"..."
"Ah, Xu Chuan is here."
While they were discussing, someone suddenly noticed Xu Chuan squatting aside and exclaimed.
This made the colleague who had just questioned the problem with the data calculation blush slightly and was a little embarrassed. After all, it was not good to say that there was a problem with his calculation behind the back of the real person, and the real person heard it.
Xu Chuan didn't care and didn't care. It was normal to have questions.
To engage in scientific research, a questioning spirit is essential.
It is precisely because of the rigor of scientific research that it is more necessary for someone to question whether the process and results are correct.
The more basic the subject, the more people need to stand up.
And what he did was indeed a bit outrageous.
Two diameters of a star are calculated. Not to mention those workers in the astronomy department, even if they are Fields Medal winners, Fehrman or Witten, their first reaction is probably that there is a problem with the calculation data or calculation formula.
Already.
Therefore, Xu Chuan has no objection to other people's suspicions, as long as the results of the discussion are finally available.
"It's okay, don't worry about me. I care more about the results of your discussion. How is the verification of the observation data? Is there a problem with the observation data, or is there something abnormal about Betelgeuse?"
Xu Chuan waved his hand and motioned for everyone to continue.
On the side, Liu Xuan, who led the team from Nanda, shook his head and said: "There hasn't been much progress. We can't determine where the problem is."
"However, I can list several situations in which problems may arise."
"Which kinds?" Xu Chuan asked.
Liu Xuan: "The first one may be caused by the asymmetric envelope activity of Betelgeuse. Because Betelgeuse has reached its old age, the outer hydrogen envelope is constantly expanding, but at the same time, its inner core is
The activity is intense, so the hydrogen envelope shows a different look, causing problems with the observation data."
"The second possibility is that the violent activity of Betelgeuse has caused the huge crown plume of gas ejected from the surface to form an effect similar to the expansion of a star."
"The third possibility is that there is something wrong with your data calculation, little junior brother."
"The fourth type is that there may be a companion star orbiting it in its gas envelope, and part of the observed data may come from its companion star."
"The fifth type, there may be a planet orbiting it in its gas envelope..."
"The sixth type......"
Liu Xuan listed the possible situations. Xu Chuan listened quietly. After finishing speaking, he raised his head and said, "Can you tell me the details of the fourth and fifth companion stars?"
"Yeah, no problem."
Liu Xuan nodded and continued: "The first time humans accurately observed the star Betelgeuse was when large telescopes and radio telescopes appeared. It was less than fifty years ago."
"Fifty years ago, parameter four had already entered its old age for a long time."
"A star will continue to expand as it enters its old age, take our sun as an example."
"When the sun enters its later years, most of the hydrogen in the central region will have finished reacting, and the rate of thermonuclear reactions will immediately decrease sharply. At the same time, the balance between gravity and radiation pressure in the central region will be broken, and gravity will gain the upper hand.
"
"At this time, the central core began to shrink and gradually became hotter and denser. At the same time, the outer layer received the energy released by the core contraction and expanded violently, turning into a red giant."
"At the same time, the sun's outer shell will continue to expand outwards, while the core will compress inward and become a red giant in its later years and eject its outer layers to form a planetary nebula."
"According to calculations, the sun will spread to the edge of the earth in its later years. In the process, it will swallow up all the surrounding materials, such as Mercury, Venus, the earth, etc."
"Betelgeuse is currently in this stage. Its surface layer, that is, the hydrogen envelope, has been continuously diffusing outwards, and its volume and diameter are also increasing."
"At this stage, if there is another star near Betelgeuse and it is not destroyed during the process of being swallowed, it will fall into Betelgeuse's hydrogen envelope."
"If its own mass and revolution speed can resist the gravity of the core, it will rotate around the core in the hydrogen envelope, thus forming a relatively unique binary star system, in which the small star becomes a quasi-planet, rotating around the main star.
"
"This may explain why the diameter you calculated is two, and some observed values may actually come from this small star."
"But this statement is relatively..., well, it can only be said that the current astronomical community does not have enough evidence to support it. It was only made by other researchers in the astronomical community in response to the unusual celestial activities of Betelgeuse.
It’s just a hypothesis.”
"As for planets, they are similar to companion stars. They are all swallowed up, but the probability of a planet existing is relatively small because they do not have such strong gravity to resist the stellar wind, and they will eventually fall into the core of Betelgeuse.
Go inside."
"So the probability of the existence of a planet can basically be ruled out."
Liu Xuan briefly explained the so-called binary star system. Although binary star systems are very common in the universe, he is not very optimistic about this hypothesis.
Because of distance and the formation of stars.
The formation of a single star system is relatively simple. It is the accumulation of matter, dust and some gases in the universe over time, forming a gathering point, and finally gathering into stars under the action of gravity.
As for binary stars, there is a lot of dust and matter somewhere in the universe and they are widely distributed, so it is possible to form two gathering points, that is, two accretion disks, and eventually two stars are formed over a long period of time.
.
If the mass of the two stars and the distance between the stars are enough, a stable binary star system can be formed. More than one-third of the galaxies in the Milky Way are binary stars.
But Betelgeuse does not meet this condition.
Because the distance is too short.
Even if its size is placed in the solar system, its boundary is enough to swallow Jupiter, but on a cosmic scale, if two stars are squeezed into this range, it is no different from being next to each other.
But during the star formation stage, gravitational collapse will clear out all surrounding objects.
Massive stars like Betelgeuse will eat up all the surrounding raw materials after they are formed.
Even if there is still enough raw material nearby to form a small star, it will gradually fall into Betelgeuse due to the influence of huge gravity, and eventually disappear.
You must know that the calculated diameter this time is for Betelgeuse, which is as large as 890 times the diameter of the sun, while the other is an unknown star with only 67 times the diameter of the sun. There is a huge difference between the two.
The gravitational gap between the two is like that of an elephant and an ordinary person pulling a river.
There is only one final result, and that is ordinary people being dragged away.
In addition, there is no evidence in the current astronomical community that Betelgeuse is a binary star system.
Observations and observations of Betelgeuse over the past few decades have never found any trace of the existence of a companion star.
Therefore, Liu Xuan is not very optimistic about the idea that there is another star rotating around the core of Betelgeuse in Betelgeuse's hydrogen envelope.
He felt that the most likely possibility was that the observation data was abnormal due to the violent activity of the hydrogen envelope, or that there was something wrong with this junior's calculation formula.
Xu Chuan pondered for a moment and asked: "If it is such a binary star system, then it should have a return cycle, right?"
"Just like the moon rotates around the earth and returns to full moon every month."
Liu Xuan nodded and said: "If this kind of stable physical binary star system really exists, small stars must have a return cycle."
"It's just that we can't determine how long it would take for this 'hypothetical' small star to orbit Betelgeuse."
"Maybe a week? A month? Maybe a year? Or maybe more than ten years?"
Xu Chuan: "Can you calculate an approximate time?"
Liu Xuan smiled bitterly and said: "I don't know, no one has ever thought about it, and no one has tried it, because there is a lack of necessary data."
"You know, the revolution speed of a planet depends on the gravity of the star it orbits and the distance..."
Before Senior Brother Liu finished speaking, Xu Chuan understood what he meant.
This is the basis of physics.
The universal gravitation is directly proportional to the mass. The greater the mass, the stronger the gravitation. It is inversely proportional to the distance. The farther the distance, the smaller the gravitation.
For example, when the earth is subject to the gravity of the sun, when it approaches the sun, the sun itself rotates, causing the earth to revolve with its gravity.
While revolving, a centrifugal force is generated between the earth and the sun. The centrifugal force competes with the sun's gravitational force, and this confrontation is proportional to the distance from the sun.
The closer you are to the sun, the stronger the gravity.
In order not to be directly attracted into the star by the star's gravity, the planet's revolution speed will be faster, thus forming a greater centrifugal force to resist the sun's gravity.
In a galaxy that is finally stabilized, the centrifugal force and gravitational force between the stars are in a balanced state.
This is also the reason why the earth will not be sucked into the sun.
According to this theorem, the revolution speed of the planet can be calculated after determining some conditions such as distance and mass.
But here’s the problem now. If there really is a small star in Betelgeuse’s hydrogen envelope, no one knows how far it is from Betelgeuse’s core and how massive it is.
Because when people observed Betelgeuse, it was already in its old age and had already swallowed up this "possible" star.
Therefore, there is no way to calculate the mass and revolution speed of this companion star.