Rotational clock for stars needs recalibration
Monday, January 4, 2016 - 11:06
in Astronomy & Space
New work from a team of astronomers led by Carnegie's Jennifer van Saders indicates that one recently developed method for determining a star's age needs to be recalibrated for stars that are older than our Sun. This is due to new information about the way older stars spin, as spin rate is one of the few windows into stellar ages. Their findings, published in Nature, have implications for our own Solar System, as they indicate that our own Sun might be on the cusp of a transition in its magnetic field.
