A star's rotation influences how long it will burn • Earth.com

A star's rotation influences how long it will burn

A star’s rotation influences how long it will burn. Today’s Image of the Day from the European Space Agency features an impressive view of the star cluster NGC 2203.

This remarkable star cluster has provided scientists with new insight into the lifetime of stars.

During the longest period of its life when it burns steadily, a star is referred to as a main sequence star.

According to the ESA, our Sun’s fuel will run out in approximately 6 billion years, and it will then move on to the next stage of its life when it will turn into a red giant. A star’s rotation influences how long it will burn as seen in image. The lights and shine show the different dimensions.

NGC 2203 contains stars that are roughly twice as massive as our Sun.

Studies of this star cluster have revealed that rotation could be a factor in how long the main sequence phase of a star’s life lasts.

The photo was captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.

Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. Physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless four-dimensional continuum known as spacetime. The concept of space is considered to be of fundamental importance to an understanding of the physical universe. However, disagreement continues between philosophers over whether it is itself an entity, a relationship between entities, or part of a conceptual framework.

In the 19th and 20th centuries mathematicians began to examine geometries that are non-Euclidean, in which space is conceived as curved, rather than flat. According to Albert Einstein‘s theory of general relativity, space around gravitational fields deviates from Euclidean space. Experimental tests of general relativity have confirmed that non-Euclidean geometries provide a better model for the shape of space.

By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer

Image Credit: ESA 

 

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