Hearing this, Liu Xuan stood up abruptly and walked over quickly: "Let me take a look."
"Here, in this set of data, the radiation flow anomaly started from the time node of 23:51:32 on April 24, and continued until it disappeared at 23:56:09 on April 24, which lasted less than five minutes.
, the flow amplitude increased by nearly three points when it was at its highest, and showed a peak shape, from weak to strong, then weakened, and finally disappeared."
"Suspected companion star data, but it cannot be ruled out that it is the atmospheric activity of Betelgeuse itself"
Liu Xuan pulled up a chair and sat down in front of the computer. After carefully watching the abnormal data, he decisively stood up and issued work arrangements to other NTU students in the computing center.
"Cao Yang, Meng Can, please pause your unfinished data analysis first, find the data at the time point of 23:51 on April 24, and confirm that it starts from 23:51 on April 24, no, from 23:50
Start and observe whether there are other abnormalities in the data, and record them if any."
"Weicheng, please sort out the previous data and send me a copy of the detailed data on Betelgeuse, including the first set of abnormal data compiled before. Send it to me as well."
"..."
One by one arrangements came from Liu Xuan's mouth. Of course, he only made arrangements for NTU students, and it was not his turn to direct the staff of the Institute of Astronomy.
After the senior finished handling the matter, Xu Chuan stepped forward and asked about the situation.
Liu Xuan: "It's still unclear whether these abnormal data come from the companion star, but there is hope."
"If it is a companion star, other data from 51 minutes to 56 minutes will also be abnormal, such as luminosity, temperature, spectrum, color, and radiant energy. These things must be mixed with some abnormal data."
"Based on this time, combined with the detailed data of Betelgeuse, the orbital period of the companion star can be roughly calculated. As long as the orbital period is determined, the approximate return period time of the next companion star can be locked. As long as the occurrence of these abnormal data is confirmed again,
It can be confirmed that the companion star really exists."
Xu Chuan nodded and said, "Thank you for your hard work. Leave it to me to calculate the return period. Just send the data to my email. I have learned some astronomy before and know how to calculate it."
Although he didn't know much about astronomy, he had no problem calculating the orbit and return period of a star.
The theorems applied to these things are quite basic, and the amount of calculation is not very large.
Once the data is complete, he can finish it in a few hours at most.
Liu Xuan nodded and said: "Okay, then I will speed up the progress and try to analyze all the data tonight."
........
After getting the data, Xu Chuan didn't waste any time. He directly found a seat in the calculation center and sat down. He asked for some A4 paper and pens and started calculating the companion star data in Betelgeuse's hydrogen envelope on the spot.
This job is not difficult for him, just a little more complicated.
After all, we are calculating an internal companion star through Betelgeuse's hydrogen envelope. Many data are inaccurate and need to be estimated. This will also cause the final calculated return period to be inaccurate and have a large error.
.
But it doesn’t matter if there is an error, as long as a return time point can be determined and another observation is enough.
If the same abnormal data can be observed again during the return cycle, then it can be determined that there is a companion star in Betelgeuse's hydrogen envelope.
After all, it has periodicity and is almost completely abnormal from the observation data of Betelgeuse, which is enough to prove that the observed anomaly is not caused by the activity of Betelgeuse itself.
That’s not to say that stars don’t have periodic activities. Every star has its own unique activity point, and there are quite a few that are periodic.
However, the activity cycles of stars are generally relatively long.
For example, the sun is the main star of the solar system and the closest star to the earth. Scientists have long discovered that there are periodic activities such as sunspots and flares on the sun's surface.
The activity cycle is about 11 years.
During this 11-year activity cycle, the internal activities of the sun will cause the solar ears, flares, sunspots, etc. to appear in an activity process from low tide to high tide and then to low tide.
During the peak period of solar surface activity, solar radiation and solar wind will cause changes in some materials in the earth's air and on the ground, and may even change the earth's climate.
For example, artificial satellites, space stations, spacecrafts, detectors and other spacecraft in space are likely to be damaged by solar winds that travel hundreds to thousands of kilometers per second.
Or the peak period of solar surface activity will produce a large number of solar wind particles, which will reach the earth's surface through various forms such as auroras and particle storms, causing damage to the earth's power supply system, etc.
Although Xu Chuan does not know the specific length of Betelgeuse's activity cycle, it will certainly not be short.
Judging from the observation data of this scientific research experiment on Betelgeuse, the first time the abnormal data of the companion star was observed on March 27, and the second time, that is, the abnormal data was discovered on April 2
No. 14.
If it is determined that these two sets of data are companion stars, then the return period of the companion star is only twenty-seven days, less than a month, and may even be shorter.
After all, it was nearly a month from March 27th to April 24th. They were not observing Betelgeuse all the time. They did not observe whether the intermediate companion star had returned once or multiple times.
have no idea.
........
"560~752."
In the computing center, Xu Chuan looked at the calculated data on the manuscript paper and sighed.
This is the return period time of the companion star calculated based on the data provided by the astronomical team, and is also the orbital time of the companion star.
Oh, the unit of this data is hours, converted into days, it is almost the range of 23 days to 31 days.
The time deviation is a bit large, reaching a deviation of more than a week, but this is already the most accurate number that can be calculated based on the current data.
It is also consistent with the 27-day interval between the two previously observed abnormal data, indicating that the calculated return period time is credible to a certain extent.
Then all that's left is to wait for another month.
If abnormal data can be observed again in the next return cycle, the data can be used to confirm that there is indeed a companion star inside Betelgeuse.
This discovery is of great significance to the astronomical community.
........
The night time passed quickly. After Xu Chuan calculated the return period of the companion star, several senior fellows from NTU also completed the analysis of the radio telescope observation data.
It was finally determined that starting from the time node of 23:45 on April 24 and continuing until 0:09 on April 25, abnormalities occurred in the four types of data observed for the parameters.
There are a number of abnormal data that are not consistent with Betelgeuse itself in various data such as luminosity, surface temperature, spectrum, radiation flux, radiant energy, etc.
Especially the spectral data has major anomalies.
Today's Betelgeuse is a red supergiant with a spectrum of m1-m2ia-iab type. This is something that has been determined.
In such a short period of time, no matter how it moves, the spectral data it emits will not be too far away from this spectral pattern.
But in tonight's abnormal data, g-type spectral data was analyzed.
This type of spectral data should not appear on a red supergiant star like Betelgeuse.
Those with such spectral data should be stars similar to the Sun and Auriga, which have g-type spectral data.
And this also confirms that Xu Chuan's previous mass calculation of the companion star has no problem and meets the spectral standards of stars of corresponding mass.
Additionally, there are some significant differences in the radiation data.
Only 13% of Betelgeuse's radiant energy is emitted through visible light, and most of the radiation is in the infrared band.
If the eyes could sense all wavelengths of radiation, then Betelgeuse, which is 640 light-years away, would become the brightest star in the sky, brighter than the sun.
However, in this abnormal data, it can be clearly observed that the weight of radiant energy in the visible light band has increased by nearly 7%.
This data is very abnormal, enough to indicate that there is a problem with its source.
Based on comprehensive judgment, the probability of a companion star existing inside Betelgeuse's hydrogen envelope has increased to more than 95%.
They are getting closer and closer to the truth.
.........
It was past one o'clock in the morning, and the computing center was still brightly lit, and a lot of people gathered.
Not only several senior fellow students from the NTU Astronomy Department, but also people from the Ching Hai Astronomical Observatory were all bombarded after hearing the news.
Xu Chuan and several senior fellows at Nanda sorted out the data from the beginning to the end of this scientific research experiment, removed the huge observation data, and retained the key data points and calculation processes. They made multiple copies of the data and distributed them to
Researchers at the Ching Hai Astronomical Observatory.
"Incredible, this is really incredible."
"Judging from your observational data, there is indeed a star that has never been discovered hidden in the outer gas layer of Betelgeuse."
"This is a major discovery in the astronomical world!"
"There are differences in spectrum, radiation flux, and radiant energy, which is enough to confirm."
"Hi~, how on earth did you discover this?"
"..."
At the Computing Center of the Qinghai Astronomical Observatory, the scientific researchers who have been working here all year round were so shocked that their jaws almost dropped to the ground after receiving the research data of Xu Chuan and his team.
Is there a star inside Betelgeuse?
This incredible thing stimulates everyone's brain.
For the astronomical community, this is no less than a world-class problem being solved, leaving countless problems waiting for them to solve.
If the information in their hands is published, astronomical stations around the world will turn their attention to Betelgeuse, which is 640 light-years away.
Because this will not only bring new astronomical knowledge, but also set off a huge wave around the world, and bring countless scientific research funds to the astronomical community.
At least, countries definitely need to figure out what impact this companion star will have on Betelgeuse, whether it will cause Betelgeuse to explode as a supernova in advance, and whether it will pose a threat to the earth.
What is more critical and valuable is not the observational discovery that there is a companion star in Betelgeuse.
This is the calculation method for various data in this information!
