The ultimate family tree

• Autores: Stephen Battersby
• Localización: New scientist, ISSN 0262-4079, Nº. 3164, 2018, págs. 36-40
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Since prehistory, humans have looked to the stars and seen gods and monsters. But now there are new constellations in the night sky. Their invisible lines criss-cross the cosmos, linking stars of different ages, colours and brightness in a tangled network that seems at first to have no clear purpose. But unlike the familiar classical constellations, these are more than aesthetically pleasing patterns: they mark out the first family tree of the stars. For now this is just a tentative sketch of stellar heredity, but it is already providing intriguing insights. As the tree grows, it could reveal the origin of the sun and tell us how the galaxy grew. But as the two discussed the question, it' became clear that, in a manner of speaking, stars do reproduce.Deep within a star, nuclear fusion reactions forge light elements into heavier ones, which are then returned to space as the star reaches the end of its life.