Article Abstract:
Research describing the properties of WD0346 + 246, a very cool, and thus old, white dwarf, presents evidence to support the view that old dead stars could be a significant element of dark matter. The flux emerging in the infrared was found to be dramatically suppressed, reinforcing hypotheses about how white dwarfs alter in character as they become older. The velocity of this white dwarf suggests that it is part of the spherical Galactic halo, while most white dwarfs orbit the Galactic centre in the planar Galactic disk. This is probably the first example of a white dwarf that may contribute to the spherically distributed dark matter.
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Article Abstract:
The abundance of stars in globular clusters in the Milky Way Galaxy's spheroid becomes greater as their masses become smaller, an inverse proportionality known as the mass function. Observations made with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope on Apr 7-11, 1992 confirmed the mass function but failed to demonstrate a power-law distribution down to 0.14 solar masses below which stars cannot be observed. In addition, the Galaxy's rotation curve at the Sun rules out a mass function below 0.05 solar masses. Consequently, low-mass stars are unlikely to be the source of galactic dark matter.
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Article Abstract:
Astronomers are reasonably confident the halo of dark matter discovered around the edge-on spiral galaxy NGC5907 comes from a specific population of stars rather than from an ordinary stellar halo. Investigations into the source of the halo are described by researchers Rudy et al in their May 8, 1997 scientific paper. They suggest the stars may vary in size but believe most of them are of low mass. These findings are supported by infrared analysis. The research continues.
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