Radioactive elements source is discovered in Ophiuchus

The source of the radioactive elements that helped keep early Earth warm may finally have been discovered, following investigations of a star-forming region in Ophiuchus similar to the one our own Sun is thought to have formed in.

A team of astronomers looked at the infrared light given off by the gas clouds created by the young stars, as well as hunting down the gamma rays given off by the short-lived radioactive element aluminum-26, combining the observations to reveal that the element seems to be seeded into the nebula by the supernovae of highly massive stars. As new, longer-lived stars form in the region their planets would incorporate these elements, but the amount of aluminium-26 available could vary wildly from system to system.

“This matters for the early evolution of planetary systems, since aluminum-26 is the main heating source. More aluminium-26 probably means drier planets,” says John Forbes from the Flatiron Institute’s Center for Computational Astrophysics, who led the study. www.simonsfoundation.org/flatiron

ILLUSTRATION: JOAO ALVES/ESO VISIONS