Pune astronomers discover rare stars that are hotter than Sun

PUNE: A group of astronomers has discovered eight stars belonging to a rare class called ‘MRPs’ or Main-sequence Radio Pulse emitters using the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) located near Pune, leading research institute NCRA said on Friday.
The group of scientists, led by astronomers from the Pune-based National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA), discovered the rare class of radio stars that are hotter than the Sun with unusually strong magnetic fields and much stronger stellar wind, it said.
In a press release, the NCRA said the team had also discovered three more such stars in the past using the GMRT.
Thus, of the total 15 MRPs known so far, 11 were discovered with the GMRT, of which eight were discovered in 2021 alone, thanks to the wide bandwidth and high sensitivity of the upgraded GMRT, the release said.
“These discoveries are the fruits of an ongoing survey with the GMRT, which was launched specifically for the purpose of solving the mystery of MRPs,” it said.
The success of the GMRT programme has revolutionised the notion about this class of stars, and has opened up a new window to study their exotic magnetospheres, the NCRA said.
—PTI

 

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