Chapter 125 The Probability of the Existence of Companion Stars
After clearing away the papers on the table, Xu Chuan stood up and stretched.
Although this calculation is a bit troublesome, it should be done tonight. As for now, let's go have dinner first.
After all, he missed it and he didn't bring any snacks, so he couldn't even eat anything at night.
.....
On the first floor, in the base restaurant of the astronomical research station, Xu Chuan was picking food in the canteen with a plate in his hand, and bumped into several Nanshan brothers who also came to eat.
"Hi, Sichuan God."
"Junior Brother Chuan."
"...."
Facing him, several senior brothers greeted Xu Chuan with plates, and then enthusiastically recommended to him the best-tasting food in the cafeteria, 'fried golden chicken drumsticks', which are actually just fried chicken drumsticks wrapped in a layer of bread crumbs.
No, it’s already the most delicious thing here.
There is no way, astronomical observatories are not as good as astronomical exhibition halls. Observatories with large-scale scientific research equipment are basically built in barren mountains and ridges. The surrounding areas are deserted for dozens of kilometers. It is quite troublesome to transport supplies and other things. Some food is good.
"Kawashen, how is the mass calculation of Betelgeuse going? When will the results be available?"
In the restaurant, several people from NTU sat together, chatting about scientific research while eating.
"It should be almost done tomorrow, but it's not sure whether we can use the first set of data to calculate the mass of the companion star in the hydrogen envelope. There may be problems with the data and it's not complete."
Xu Chuan took a bite of the fried golden chicken legs and said, there are some things that no one will know the answer to until the end, not to mention that the data he brought back before was not complete and some things were missing.
When he was doing fusion calculations this afternoon, he did some regional calculations using scattered data, but the results he got were not very good.
Maybe this mass calculation is missing some key data, such as Betelgeuse's polarization, which can only be observed using a radio telescope at the Qinghai Observatory.
This thing is a very important parameter in the xu-weyl-berry mass equation. It can be used as auxiliary information to define the boundary value. Without this, the calculated data will most likely have problems and may have a large deviation.
After a pause and swallowing the chicken in his mouth, Xu Chuan then asked: "When will the work on your side be completed? How long will it take on Qinghai's side?"
"The calculation of the mass may also lack information such as the polarization of Betelgeuse. If you want to calculate the companion star, you may have to wait until the polarization of the companion star is observed during the return period."
Hearing this, Senior Brother Liu Xuan, who was leading the team, put down his fast son, thought about it and calculated it, and then said: "If we are fast here in southern Yunnan, we should be able to get it done the night after tomorrow."
"As for Qinghai, we are not sure, especially about the polarization of the companion star. After all, we currently don't know whether the companion star exists or not, and how long the return period is."
"After all, other people's radio telescopes also have their own work arrangements. Being able to jump in and use them for a week this time is beyond my imagination."
"The only thing you can do is to maintain uninterrupted data collection for a period of time when observing the data you need. I hope the data during this period will have the information you need."
"I hope that the companion star can be observed within this week, otherwise we can only rely on the previous observation data of Betelgeuse, or, after this period of time is over, apply for a radio telescope to have a look."
From the beginning, they just participated in scientific research projects to gain some qualifications. Now, these doctoral students from the Department of Astronomy have devoted themselves wholeheartedly to it.
There may be a companion star in Betelgeuse's hydrogen envelope. If this discovery is confirmed, the results will shock the entire astronomical world.
With this discovery, even a doctoral student like Liu Xuan, who is about to graduate and has written half of his graduation thesis, can give up his original thesis and turn his graduation thesis to this aspect.
Compared with previous graduation thesis, this discovery can be described as world-class.
And if it is successful, it means that through this scientific research experiment, people will master the key method of calculating the mass, volume, diameter and other information of stars in distant galaxies.
Although they are employed, it is undeniable that they participated in the entire scientific research experiment, and the key data on Betelgeuse and its companion stars were collected by their observations.
At this point, it is no longer just mixed qualifications, but gold plating, or a thick layer of dazzling gold. As long as they succeed, they will be scrambled by various astronomical institutions after graduation.
So from the beginning of normal work, now they care more about this scientific research project than Xu Chuan.
........
After dinner, Xu Chuan returned to the laboratory, packed up the manuscript papers and opened a room for lodging.
The observatory still has a guest house. After all, foreign scholars and researchers often come here to carry out experimental research and need accommodation.
It’s just that the environment is average, not even comparable to ordinary hotels in small counties. Some have double rooms and multi-person rooms.
Xu Chuan applied for a single room. Although he is only a college student now and cannot apply for a single room according to the rules, his situation is quite special. The leaders of the observatory also know some things and do not pay too much attention to these things.
After taking a shower and wiping his hair, Xu Chuan took out the manuscript paper from his backpack and continued to finish the unfinished work in the afternoon.
Following the calculation, time went very quickly, and in the blink of an eye, the sky outside turned completely dark.
"... Substituting the blackbody radiation data uλ(v,t)=4π/λ?.........., the mass is 23.m⊙, 2.m⊙"
After staring at the calculated data, Xu Chuan put down the pen in his hand and rubbed his sour eyes.
"Sure enough, after losing the polarization amount to define the boundary value to a precise value, the calculated quality data is problematic."
After taking a look at the data on the manuscript paper, Xu Chuan shook his head slightly.
23. The mass of m⊙, this data is not accurate at a glance.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! It far exceeds the current estimate of the mass of Betelgeuse in the astronomical community.
Although the astronomical community has not yet agreed on how many times the mass of Betelgeuse is the sun, some data show that its mass is only 14 ~ 15 m⊙, but some data believe that its mass reaches 18 ~ 19 m⊙, and even some
Reaching 20 m⊙.
But there are almost never estimates of more than 20 solar masses.
23.87 times, close to 24 times the mass of the sun. This number obviously exceeds the previous estimates of the astronomical community.
Although it is possible that it is correct, the probability is small.
On the one hand, it is the conventional method used by the astronomical community to calculate the mass of Betelgeuse over the years. Although it is not accurate, the approximate mass cannot be estimated wrong.
On the other hand, the data parameters he used when calculating Betelgeuse this time were incomplete. In the absence of key auxiliary information such as polarization, the calculated quantities must be biased.
But there is good news. The first set of data and quality information were also calculated for the two sets.
This confirms that there is indeed a companion star in Betelgeuse's hydrogen envelope that has never been discovered before.
Two sets of diameters and two sets of masses cannot be said to be a calculation problem.
Perhaps these data are not enough to fully confirm the existence of a companion star in Betelgeuse's hydrogen envelope. After all, the source of the data calculation is a bit monotonous and comes from a unified set of observation data, so there is the possibility of error.
But the probability is already over 80 to 90 percent.
If we can observe several sets of the same data in the next time, it can be confirmed.
If this discovery is really confirmed, this may be the biggest discovery this year for the astronomical community.
.......
After repeatedly checking the calculation process and data to make sure there were no errors, Xu made a phone call and called over several doctoral fellows from NTU.
Although it was already eight or nine o'clock in the night, several senior brothers must not have slept. They still had to use the observation array at the observatory to collect data on Betelgeuse in the early hours of tonight.
"Sichuan God is awesome. I actually live in a single room. I'm so jealous. My mentor and I both stayed in a standard room when we came here."
"If you prove a world-class conjecture, you can hopefully win the Fields Medal."
"Okay, don't be impatient. Sichuan God suddenly called us here this time. He must have made a major discovery. Has the mass data of Betelgeuse been calculated, Sichuan God?"
Several fellow doctoral students came in and filled the originally small room to the brim.
Xu Chuan ignored the ridicule of others, looked at Liu Xuan who was leading the team, and said: "The data has been calculated. Just like the diameter before, the data calculated by taking the first set of information data also calculated two different results.
"
"In other words, there is a high probability that there is a companion star hidden in Betelgeuse's hydrogen envelope."
"However, key auxiliary information such as polarization is currently missing, and the calculated numerical error is very large."
Hearing this, Liu Xuan's eyes lit up and he hurriedly asked: "Where is the data? Can I see it?"
The diameter and mass were calculated in two groups, which is enough to confirm that part of the data in the first group does not come from Betelgeuse, but from other stars.
The two groups of simple diameters can also be said to be caused by calculation errors or problems with the observation data.
But add another mass, and the probability of confirming the existence of a companion star rises straight up.
On this basis, the probability that there is a companion star inside Betelgeuse's hydrogen envelope exceeds 90%.
If they can observe several more sets of data on companion stars in the future, they can directly confirm that companion stars indeed exist.
As for the data deviation, that is not a problem. It doesn't matter how big the deviation is. After all, the data itself is incomplete.
Including the previous diameter calculation, it is actually not completely accurate, because some key values that they have not yet observed are extracted from the original ancient observation data.
What we are doing now is just to verify whether the xu-weyl-berry theorem can accurately calculate the size of Betelgeuse. Once the data is collected, it will be enough to calculate it again.
So it doesn't matter whether it's the final accurate value now.
Xu Chuan pointed to the manuscript paper on the table and said, "Over there."
Liu Xuan walked over quickly, picked up the manuscript paper on the table, and looked directly at the final answer.
Although he is a doctoral student, he really can't understand the calculation process on the manuscript paper.
He had seen the formula and process for calculating diameter before, but he couldn't understand it at all, so he would just look at the answer.
【23.m⊙】
【2.m⊙】
There are two answers. The first one is close to 24 times the mass of the sun and should be from Betelgeuse. The second one is close to 3 times the mass of the sun and should be from the companion star inside.
With such a large mass, even if there is a deviation, the deviation is more than 50%, or even more than 80 or 90%, it is enough to confirm that if the companion star inside really exists, it is definitely a star, not a planet.
