A new study led by UNSW Sydney researchers into a cluster of stars 2700 light years away reveals their stages of evolution through the 'sounds' they make. This discovery will allow scientists to map the history of the Milky Way and other galaxies, accelerating knowledge in the field of astrophysics.
Dr Claudia Reyes is the lead author of the study published today in Nature. While undertaking her PhD at the UNSW School of Physics, she studied 27 stars in a cluster of stars called M67. The stars in this stellar cluster were all born from the same cloud of gas four billion years ago.
She says these stars have similar chemical compositions but different masses which made them ideal for studying evolution in real-time.
"When we study stars in a cluster, we can see their whole sequence of individual evolution," Dr Reyes says.
She says while these stars are the same age, it's their mass that gives away how quickly they've evolved. And, she adds, M67 is a very special cluster as it includes a broad range of 'giants', from the smaller, less evolved subgiants to red giants – the latter being the most evolved of stars.
