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Science XMM-Newton unlocks magnetic mystery
Science XMM-Newton unlocks magnetic mystery | XMM-Newton unlocks magnetic mystery |
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| by Stephen Withers | |
| Friday, 23 February 2007 | |
  
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Science DiscussionsData collected by XMM-Newton has allowed an international team led by Manuel Güdel and Alessandra Telleschi of the Paul Scherrer Institut in Switzerland to suggest a neater solution. Observations of AB Aurigae, a Herbig star in the Taurus-Auriga cloud - showed that its X-ray emissions have the same periodicity as the optical and ultraviolet light coming from it. "Finding the same periodicity confirms that the X-rays are coming from AB Aurigae and not from a companion star," says Güdel. The data also showed that the gas emitting the X-rays was much cooler than expected. An important clue came from XMM-Newton's spectrometer, which showed the X-rays were coming from high above the star. Güdel, Telleschi and the team suggest that a magnetic field within the star funnels its stellar winds together, and the resulting collisions create the X-rays. The next job is to study other Herbig stars to see if this model also fits them.{moscomment} |
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