Thursday, August 16, 2012

Zombie allusions: They just keep on coming-red and dead

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/08/16/galaxy_cluster_starburst/


Undead galaxy cluster spews 700 zombie baby stars A YEAR

ITS' ALIVE! IT'S ALIVE!
"According to the scientists, the cluster is "experiencing a massive starburst" that's forming the equivalent of 740 Suns every year.
“Central galaxies have typically been referred to as ‘red and dead’ - just a bunch of old stars orbiting a massive black hole, and there’s nothing new happening,” said Michael McDonald of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), lead author of a study of the cluster. “But the central galaxy in this cluster has somehow come to life, and is giving birth to prodigious numbers of new stars.”
While these "red and dead" central galaxies are effectively space graveyards, boffins have often thought they shouldn't be. That's because the hot gas in a cluster core, gathered from nearby galaxies and supernova explosions, should cool over time and condense to form new stars."

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