According to BGR, for over a decade, astronomers have been puzzled by these “ghost stars” in the Milky Way. These mysterious planetary nebulae were first discovered by Bryan Rees, a research student in Manchester (UK), lined up in the bulging part of our galaxy 10 years ago.
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Scientists have found a new clue to explain the straight alignment of ghost stars in the Milky Way galaxy.
Since their discovery, the reason for their peculiar arrangement has remained unexplained. However, now, the scientific community is making progress in unraveling this mystery.
In a statement, based on newly collected data from the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile, as well as data from the Hubble Space Telescope, a new study has been published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. The new research not only confirms the arrangement but also provides a possible explanation for their strange alignment.
According to the study’s images, these ghost stars, also known as planetary nebulae, are essentially clouds of gas released by stars as they end their lifecycle. These expelled clouds are essentially the “ghosts” of dying stars, creating mesmerizing scenes in the cosmos.
However, the group of these “ghost stars” in the bulging part of the Milky Way galaxy is an intriguing topic, as they all seem to align in a straight line nearly parallel to the galactic plane of the Milky Way.
A new clue in the study was discovered by student Shuyu Tan from the University of Hong Kong and other researchers, indicating that this alignment only occurs in ghost stars with companion stars. Planetary nebulae without these companion stars do not show the peculiar straight alignment.
Thus, there might be a mysterious link between stars and their companions, which could be the key to the long-standing question about planetary nebulae. So far, the research team has confirmed over 136 “ghost stars” in the bulging part of the galaxy, the densest region of the Milky Way.