Researchers question results obtained heretofore in the study of pulsating stars
Wednesday, December 2, 2015 - 10:06
in Astronomy & Space
The movement of gas inside a star causes seismic waves which in turn cause irregularities on the star's surface. These 'earthquakes' (or pulsations) produce periodic variations in the brightness of a star, and the study of those variations can reveal the physical structure and processes that take place inside. A group of researchers examined the tools used to interpret those types of data and found that the methods which have been utilized for decades are not universally applicable.