Chapter 126 Probability of the Existence of a Companion Star

After clearing away the papers on the table, Xu Chuan stood up and stretched.

Although the calculation this time is a bit troublesome, it should be done tonight. As for now, let's go have dinner first.

After all, he missed it, and he didn't bring any snacks, so he couldn't even eat anything at night.

On the first floor, in the base restaurant of the astronomical research station, Xu Chuan was picking food in the canteen with a plate in his hand, and bumped into several Nanshi brothers who were also coming to eat.

"Hi, Kawakami."

"Junior Brother Chuan."

"."

Facing him, several senior brothers greeted Xu Chuan with plates, and then enthusiastically recommended to him the best-tasting food in the cafeteria, 'fried golden chicken drumsticks', which are actually just fried chicken drumsticks wrapped in a layer of bread crumbs.

But here, it is already the most delicious thing.

There is no way. Astronomical observatories are no better than astronomical exhibition halls. Observatories with large-scale scientific research equipment are basically built in barren mountains and ridges. The surrounding areas are deserted for dozens of kilometers. It is quite troublesome to transport supplies and other things. Some food is good.

"Kawashen, how is the mass calculation of Betelgeuse? When will the results be available?"

In the restaurant, several people from NTU sat together and chatted about scientific research while eating.

"It should be almost done tomorrow, but it's not sure whether we can use the first set of data to calculate the mass of the companion star in the hydrogen envelope. There may be problems with the data and it's not complete."

Xu Chuan took a bite of the fried golden chicken drumstick and said, there are some things that no one will know the answer to until the end, not to mention that the data he brought back before was not complete and some things were missing.

When he was doing fusion calculations this afternoon, he did some regional calculations using scattered data, but the results he got were not very good.

Maybe this mass calculation is missing some key data, such as Betelgeuse's polarization, which can only be observed using a radio telescope at the Qinghai Observatory.

This thing is a very important parameter in the Xu-Weyl-Berry mass calculation equation. It can be used as auxiliary information to define the boundary value. Without this, the calculated data will most likely have problems and may have large deviations.

After a pause and swallowing the chicken in his mouth, Xu Chuan then asked: "When will the work on your side be completed? How long will it take on Qinghai's side?"

Hearing this, Senior Brother Liu Xuan, who was leading the team, put down his chopsticks, thought and calculated, and said: "It won't rain in southern Yunnan for the past two days. If the weather is good, it should be done the night after tomorrow."

"As for Qinghai, we are not sure, especially about the polarization of the companion star. After all, we currently don't know whether the companion star exists or not, and how long the return period is."

"Other people's radio telescopes also have their own work arrangements. Being able to jump in and use them for a week this time is beyond my imagination."

"The only thing you can do is to maintain uninterrupted data collection for a period of time when observing the data you need. I hope the data during this period will have the information you need."

"I hope that the companion star can be observed within this week, otherwise we can only rely on the previous observation data of Betelgeuse, or, after this period of time is over, apply for a radio telescope to have a look."

From the beginning, they just participated in scientific research projects to gain qualifications. Now, these doctoral students in the astronomy department have devoted themselves wholeheartedly to it.

There may be a companion star in Betelgeuse's hydrogen envelope. If this discovery is confirmed, the results will shock the entire astronomical community.

With this kind of discovery, even a doctoral student like Liu Xuan, who is about to graduate and has written half of his graduation thesis, can give up his original thesis and turn his graduation thesis to this aspect.

Compared with previous graduation thesis, this discovery is world-class.

And if it is successful, it means that through this scientific research experiment, people will master the key method of calculating the mass, volume, diameter and other information of stars in distant galaxies.

Although they are employed, it is undeniable that they participated in the entire scientific research experiment, and the key data on Betelgeuse and its companion stars were collected by their observations.

At this point, it is no longer a matter of mixed qualifications, but gold plating, or a thick layer of dazzling gold. As long as they succeed, they will be scrambled by various astronomical institutions after graduation.

So from the beginning of normal work, now they care more about this scientific research project than Xu Chuan.

After dinner, Xu Chuan returned to the laboratory, packed up the manuscript papers and opened a room for lodging.

The observatory still has a guest house. After all, foreign scholars and researchers often come here to conduct experimental research and need accommodation.

It’s just that the environment of the guest house is very average, not even comparable to the hotels in ordinary small counties. Some of them have double rooms and multi-person rooms.

Xu Chuan applied for a single room. Although he is only a college student now and cannot apply for a single room according to the rules, his situation is quite special. The leaders of the observatory also know some things and do not pay too much attention to these things.

After taking a shower and wiping his hair, Xu Chuan took out the manuscript paper from his backpack and continued to finish the unfinished work in the afternoon.

Following the calculation, time went very quickly, and in the blink of an eye, the sky outside turned completely dark.

". Substituting the blackbody radiation data uλ (v, T) = 4π/λ., the mass is 23.871, 2.7

After staring at the calculated data, Xu Chuan put down the pen in his hand and rubbed his sore eyes.

"Sure enough, after losing the polarization and defining the boundary value to an accurate value, the calculated mass data is problematic."

Looking at the data on the manuscript, Xu Chuan shook his head slightly.

23.871 mass, this data is not accurate at a glance.

It far exceeds the current astronomical estimate of Betelgeuse's mass.

Although the astronomical community has not yet reached a consensus on how many times the mass of the sun the mass of Betelgeuse is, some data show that its mass is only 14 ~ 15 M⊙, but some data believe that its mass reaches 18 ~ 19 M⊙, and even reaches 20 M⊙.

But there is almost no estimate of more than 20 solar masses.

23.87 times, close to 24 times the mass of the sun, this number obviously exceeds the previous estimate of the astronomical community.

Although it may be correct, the probability is small.

On the one hand, the conventional method used by the astronomical community to calculate the mass of Betelgeuse over the years, although it cannot be accurate, the general mass will not be estimated wrong.

On the other hand, the data parameters he used to calculate Betelgeuse this time were incomplete. In the absence of key auxiliary information such as polarization, the calculated amount must be biased.

However, there is good news. The first set of data, information about mass, also calculated two sets.

This confirms that there is indeed a companion star in the hydrogen envelope of Betelgeuse that has never been discovered before.

Two sets of diameters and two sets of masses, this can't be said to be a problem in the calculation.

Perhaps these data are not enough to fully confirm the existence of a companion star in the hydrogen envelope of Betelgeuse. After all, the source of the data calculation is a bit monotonous, and it is uniformly derived from a set of observational data, and there is a possibility of error.

But there is already a probability of more than 80 to 90 percent.

If a few more sets of the same data can be observed in the next period of time, it can be confirmed.

If this discovery is really confirmed, it may be the biggest discovery of the year for the astronomical community.

After repeatedly checking the calculation process and data to make sure there were no errors, Xu made a phone call and called several doctoral students from Nanjing University.

Although it is already eight or nine in the evening, several seniors must not have slept yet. They still have to use the observatory's observation array to collect data on Betelgeuse in the early morning tonight.

"Chuan Shen is awesome. He actually lives in a single room. I envy him so much. My mentor and I lived in a standard room when we first came here."

"If you prove a world-class conjecture, you can win the Fields Medal."

"Okay, stop talking nonsense. Chuan Shen suddenly called us here this time. There must be a major discovery. Has the mass data of Betelgeuse been calculated, Chuan Shen?"

Several doctoral students came in and filled the originally small room.

Xu Chuan ignored the ridicule of others and looked at Liu Xuan, the leader of the team, and said: "The data has been calculated. Just like the previous diameter, the data calculated from the first set of information data also calculated two different results."

"That is to say, there is a high probability that a companion star is hidden in the hydrogen envelope of Betelgeuse."

"But at present, key auxiliary information such as polarization is missing, and the calculated numerical error is very large."

Hearing this, Liu Xuan's eyes lit up and he hurriedly asked: "Where is the data? Can I see it?"

Both the diameter and mass have been calculated in two sets, which is enough to prove that part of the data in the first set is not from Betelgeuse, but from other stars.

The two sets of diameters can be said to be caused by calculation errors or problems with observation data.

But adding a mass, the probability of confirming the existence of a companion star rises sharply.

On this basis, the probability of there being a companion star inside the hydrogen envelope of Betelgeuse exceeds 90%.

If they can observe a few more sets of companion star data in the future, then they can directly confirm that the companion star does exist.

As for the data deviation, it is not a problem. It doesn't matter how large the deviation is, after all, the data itself is incomplete.

Including the previous diameter calculation, it is not completely accurate, because some key values ​​that they have not observed are extracted from the original ancient observation data.

What we are doing now is just to verify whether the Xu-Weyl-Berry theorem can accurately calculate the size of Betelgeuse. When the data is fully collected, it will be enough to calculate it again.

So it doesn’t matter whether it is the final accurate value now.

Xu Chuan pointed to the manuscript on the table and said, "It's there."

Liu Xuan walked over quickly, picked up the manuscript on the table, and looked directly at the final answer.

Although he is a doctoral student, he really can't understand the calculation process on the manuscript.

He has seen the formula and process for calculating the diameter before, but he can't understand it at all, so he just looks at the answer now.

[23.871]

[2.7]

There are two answers. The first one is close to 24 times the mass of the sun, which should be Betelgeuse, and the second one is close to 3 times the mass of the sun, which should be the companion star inside.

With such a large mass, even if there is a deviation of more than 50%, or even more than 80% or 90%, it is enough to prove that if the companion star inside really exists, it is definitely a star, not a planet.

It's very simple, because planets have a mass limit.