Astronomers listened to the 'music' of flickering stars - and discovered an unexpected feature

https://www.alternet.org/astronomers-listened-to-the-music-of-flickering-stars-and-discovered-an-unexpected-feature/

Astronomers listened to the ‘music’ of flickering stars – and discovered an unexpected feature

The ConversationApril 16, 2025

The “music” of starquakes – enormous vibrations caused by bursting bubbles of gas that ripple throughout the bodies of many stars – can reveal far more information about the stars’ histories and inner workings than scientists thought.

In new research published in Nature, we analysed the frequency signatures of starquakes across a broad range of giant stars in the M67 star cluster, almost 3,000 light years from Earth.

Using observations from the Kepler space telescope’s K2 mission, we had a rare opportunity to track the evolution of stars during most of their journey through the giant phase of the stellar life cycle.

In doing so, we discovered that these stars get stuck “playing the same part of their tune” once their turbulent outer layer reaches a sensitive region deep inside.

This discovery reveals a new way to understand the history of stars – and of the entire galaxy.

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