This discovery could be a crucial step in understanding the future of the Sun and the history of the Milky Way.
Researchers from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Australia have found that stars in the sky "vibrate" like instruments, and these vibrations provide clues about their age, mass, and evolutionary status.
Thanks to data from NASA's Kepler K2 mission, the M67 star cluster—made up of 27 stars around 4 billion years old—was analyzed. This study is considered one of the most comprehensive analyses to date in understanding stellar interiors.
Scientists read the frequencies emitted by stars like fingerprints, identifying each star's internal structure, temperature, and age. These vibrations aren't visible but can be measured through tiny fluctuations in the star's brightness.
Led by Dr. Claudia Reyes from UNSW's Department of Physics, the study found that stars emit various frequencies like musical notes, and these frequencies indicate how much a star has aged.
The stars studied were born from the same gas cloud about 4 billion years ago. This makes them ideal examples, as they share similar chemical properties and differ mostly in mass.
According to scientists, this cluster closely resembles the stellar family the Sun once belonged to. Therefore, the research not only sheds light on distant stars but also offers a glimpse into the Sun's future.
Star clusters are cosmic communities where hundreds or thousands of stars are born at once. Over time, these stars drift apart and scatter across the sky.
Clusters like M67, which remain intact, are extremely valuable for astronomers because they allow the simultaneous study of many stars with similar ages and compositions.
Though space is silent, stars vibrate internally like musical instruments. These vibrations can't be heard directly but are detected through tiny changes in brightness. Large stars produce deeper, bass-like tones, while smaller stars emit higher, sharper frequencies. And no star plays just one note—each one is like a symphony.
According to the study, the frequency signatures of stars can also help scientists understand how galaxies formed and evolved over time. This method could allow more precise measurements of star ages and masses in the Milky Way. It could also improve analysis of stars surrounding potentially habitable planets.
Prof. Dennis Stello of UNSW says this study enables the creation of more reliable models of stellar interiors. These models can help predict how not just the Sun but other stars will evolve in the future.
Dr. Reyes adds, "Discovering these unique signatures in frequencies was completely unexpected. Now we can reexamine previously gathered star data to look for these signs. In other words, we'll keep listening to the stars."
