Astronomers may have just solved a mystery 10 billion years in the making.
It has to do with so-called "blue hook" stars, which have less than half the mass of the sun but burn 10 times hotter and are far more luminous. No one was ever able to explain the stars' unusual properties.
The destruction of the discs caused the blue hook stars to rotate more rapidly than they otherwise would have, according to the research. That, in turn, affected the evolution of the stars, leaving them with unusually heavy cores that burn very brightly.
disc
Artist's impression of a protostellar disc being disrupted by a collision.
What was it that collided with the discs? Other stars. After all, the star clusters in which blue hooks are believed to have formed were densely packed with stars.
"We've solved an old puzzle," study co-author Dr. Antonino Milone of the Australian National University School of Astronomy and Astrophysics in Canberra said in a written statement. "Our new explanation is quite simple, and it hangs together really nicely," added co-author Dr. Aaron Dotter, another researcher at the university.
To reach their conclusion, the team studied the globular cluster Omega Centauri, according to the statement. It contains about 10 million stars in close proximity to one another.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article stated that Omega Centauri is the only star cluster visible to the naked eye. In fact, others, including the Pleiades, are visible without the help of binoculars or telescopes.
Hubble Captures View of 'Mystic Mountain'
Hubble's 20th anniversary image shows a mountain of dust and gas rising in the Carina Nebula. The top of a three-light-year tall pillar of cool hydrogen is being worn away by the radiation of nearby stars, while stars within the pillar unleash jets of gas that stream from the peaks. Credit: NASA, ESA, and M. Livio and the Hubble 20th Anniversary Team (STScI)
ACS Image of NGC 5866
Credit: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) Acknowledgment: W. Keel (University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa)
Giant "Twisters" in the Lagoon Nebula
Credit: A. Caulet (ST-ECF, ESA) and NASA
The Spirograph Nebula (IC 418)
Credit: NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) Acknowledgment: Dr. Raghvendra Sahai (JPL) and Dr. Arsen R. Hajian (USNO)
30 Doradus in Ultraviolet, Visible, and Red Light
Credit: NASA, ESA, F. Paresce (INAF-IASF, Bologna, Italy), R. O'Connell (University of Virginia, Charlottesville), and the Wide Field Camera 3 Science Oversight Committee
The Ant Nebula (Menzel 3): Fiery Lobes Protrude From Dying, Sun-like Star
Image Credit: NASA, ESA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) Acknowledgment: R. Sahai (Jet Propulsion Lab) and B. Balick (University of Washington)
The Eskimo Nebula (NGC 2392)
Credit: NASA, Andrew Fruchter and the ERO Team [Sylvia Baggett (STScI), Richard Hook (ST-ECF), Zoltan Levay (STScI)]
Dying Star HD 44179, the "Red Rectangle," Sculpts Rungs of Gas and Dust
Credit: NASA; ESA; Hans Van Winckel (Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium); and Martin Cohen (University of California, Berkeley)
Galaxy Triplet Arp 274
Arp 274 is a trio of galaxies. They appear to be partially overlapping in this image, but may be located at different distances. Credit: NASA, ESA, M. Livio and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
Cassiopeia A: Colorful, Shredded Remains of Old Supernova
This youngest-known supernova remnant in our galaxy lies 10,000 light years away in the constellation Cassiopeia. The light from this exploding star first reached Earth in the 1600s. Image Credit: NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) Acknowledgment: R. Fesen (Dartmouth) and J. Morse (Univ. of Colorado)
Rainbow Image of the Egg Nebula
An onionskin-like structure of concentric dust shells surround a central, aging star. Twin beams of light radiate from the star and illuminate the usually invisible dust. Artificial colors show how light reflects off the particles and heads toward Earth. Credit: NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) Acknowledgment: W. Sparks (STScI) and R. Sahai (JPL)
Jet in Carina: WFC3 UVIS Full Field
Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble SM4 ERO Team
Jet in Carina
Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble SM4 ERO Team
Starburst Galaxy M82
Plumes of glowing hydrogen blast from the central nucleus of M82. The pale, star-like objects are clusters of tens to hundreds of thousands of stars. Credit: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) Acknowledgment: J. Gallagher (University of Wisconsin), M. Mountain (STScI), and P. Puxley (National Science Foundation)
Picture Album: Hubble's Black and White View of the Universe
Credit: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) Acknowledgment: A. Nota (STScI/ESA)
The Eagle Has Risen: Stellar Spire in the Eagle Nebula
A billowing tower of gas and dust rises from the stellar nursery known as the Eagle Nebula. This small piece of the Eagle Nebula is 57 trillion miles long (91.7 trillion km). Credit: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
Ring of Hot Blue Stars Pinwheels Around Yellow Nucleus of Hoag's Object Galaxy
Image Credit: NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) Acknowledgment: Ray A. Lucas (STScI/AURA)
Nucleus of Galaxy Centaurus A
Credit: E.J. Schreier (STScI), and NASA
Saturn's Rings in Ultraviolet Light
Credit: NASA and E. Karkoschka (University of Arizona)
HST ACS/WFC Image of NGC 3021
Credit: NASA, ESA, and A. Riess (STScI/JHU)
NASA's Great Observatories Examine the Galactic Center Region
Credit: NASA, ESA, SSC, CXC, and STScI
Interacting Spiral Galaxies NGC 2207 and IC 2163
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI)
Combined X-Ray and Optical Images of the Crab Nebula
Credits for X-ray Image: NASA/CXC/ASU/J. Hester et al. Credits for Optical Image: NASA/HST/ASU/J. Hester et al.
Hubble's Sharpest View of the Orion Nebula
Thousands of stars are forming in the cloud of gas and dust known as the Orion nebula. More than 3,000 stars of various sizes appear in this image. Some of them have never been seen in visible light. Credit: NASA,ESA, M. Robberto (Space Telescope Science Institute/ESA) and the Hubble Space Telescope Orion Treasury Project Team
Star-Forming Region S106
Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
A String of 'Cosmic Pearls' Surrounds an Exploding Star
Credit: NASA, ESA, P. Challis and R. Kirshner (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)
A Perfect Storm of Turbulent Gases in the Omega/Swan Nebula (M17)
Credit: NASA, ESA and J. Hester (ASU)
Three Moons Cast Shadows on Jupiter
Credit: NASA, ESA, and E. Karkoschka (University of Arizona)
The Helix Nebula: a Gaseous Envelope Expelled By a Dying Star
Credit: NASA, ESA, C.R. O'Dell (Vanderbilt University), M. Meixner and P. McCullough (STScI)
"Light Echo" Illuminates Dust Around Supergiant Star V838 Monocerotis (V838 Mon)
Credit: NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI)
The Cat's Eye Nebula: Dying Star Creates Fantasy-like Sculpture of Gas and Dust
The Cat's Eye Nebula, one of the first planetary nebulae discovered, also has one of the most complex forms known to this kind of nebula. Eleven rings, or shells, of gas make up the Cat's Eye. Credit: NASA, ESA, HEIC, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) Acknowledgment: R. Corradi (Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes, Spain) and Z. Tsvetanov (NASA)
Optical and X-ray Composite Image of SNR 0509-67.5
Science Credit: NASA, ESA, and B. Schaefer and A. Pagnotta (Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge) Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CXC, SAO, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), and J. Hughes (Rutgers University)
Spiral Galaxy M74
Bright knots of glowing gas light up the arms of spiral galaxy M74, indicating a rich environment of star formation. Messier 74, also called NGC 628, is slightly smaller than our Milky Way. Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration Acknowledgment: R. Chandar (University of Toledo) and J. Miller (University of Michigan)
"X" Structure at Core of Whirlpool Galaxy (M51)
Credit: H. Ford (JHU/STScI), the Faint Object Spectrograph IDT, and NASA
Starburst Cluster Shows Celestial Fireworks
Credit: NASA, ESA, R. O'Connell (University of Virginia), F. Paresce (National Institute for Astrophysics, Bologna, Italy), E. Young (Universities Space Research Association/Ames Research Center), the WFC3 Science Oversight Committee, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
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![Credit: NASA, Andrew Fruchter and the ERO Team [Sylvia Baggett (STScI), Richard Hook (ST-ECF), Zoltan Levay (STScI)]](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/Sy7gzoUhi7S4z05n8mwfwA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA--/https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/5baeac652400005000967bcb.jpg)
