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Astronomers solve enigma of eclipsing star
AFP - Thursday, April 8
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A handout photo provided by Nature shows reconstructed images of the progression of the 2009-2010 eclipse of the star Epsilon Aurigae as imaged by the Center for High Angular Resolution interferometer with the Michigan Infrared beam Combiner. Astronomers said they may have explained the riddle of a dimming star that has perplexed skygazers for nearly two centuries.
PARIS (AFP) - – Astronomers on Wednesday said they may have explained the riddle of a dimming star that has perplexed skygazers for nearly two centuries.
Located 2,000 light years from Earth in the northern constellation Auriga where it is one of the brightest stars, Epsilon Aurigae has triggered controversy ever since astronomers first noted in the 1820s that its light bizarrely halved in intensity for 18 months.
The phenomenon was later found to occur once every 27.1 years, sparking theories about what was the cause.
Suspicions centered on an eclipse -- some dark companion that swung between the distant star and Earth.
But debate was also complicated by the fact that Epsilon Aurigae was found to be a binary star, meaning two stars that orbit around each other, although the two have never been visible at the same time.
For much of the 20th century, a popular idea was that the opaque object was some extremely cool, tenuous companion star, which scattered the light of the primary star. Another hypothesis was that it was a light-gobbling black hole.
The answer, according to high-resolution images published in the journal Nature, points to a thin, dark and dense disk of dust that passes edge-on in front of the star, filtering out some of the light that reaches us.
Clouds of dust and gas are the building blocks of space, coalescing to form planets, stars and galaxies, according to cosmic theory.
The pictures were taken last November by four one-metre (39.4-inch) telescopes at Georgia State University, whose infrared light was then amplified by a process called interferometry.
The long-awaited eclipse of Epsilon Aurigae, running from 2009 to 2011, was one of the centrepieces of the 2009 International Year of Astronomy.
The images are a major technical feat, showing how very distant objects may be brought into closer focus, said University of Michigan professor John Monnier, whose institution made the interferometry instrument.
"It kind of blows my mind that we could capture this," Monnier said in a press release.
"There's no other (star) system like this known. On top of that, it seems to be in a rare phase of stellar life. And it happens to be so close to us.
"It's extremely fortuitous."
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