Star Formation Theories Set For Significant Revision

[TechBear_Seattle]

Star Formation Theories Set For Significant Revision
15 August 2006

Observations from NASA's Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) satellite indicate that far more deuterium ("heavy" hydrogen) remains in our Milky Way galaxy than expected, a finding that could radically alter existing theories about star and galaxy formation.

Scientists believe deuterium was created a few instants after the Big Bang, and has been slowly destroyed over the eons as it is burnt in stars and converted to heavier elements. But it seems that these theories of deuterium's demise may be incorrect.

The full article can be read at http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/20060715005526data_trunc_sys.shtml

[halobeam]

1. I'm like the energizer bunny.. I keep trying.... I plug along....

I ain't stoppin'.... chugga chugga... (little engine that could).. I keep readin'... understanding everything I can... and in the end....


I just don't get it. Undetectable solid formation... don't know what that is.. maybe thats the missing piece for me. LOL.. maybe not..

anyone want to take a crack at it, just for the sake of a challenge and TRY to help me understand?

[TechBear_Seattle]

2. "Undetectable solid formation"

To pick one of many possible examples: two deuterium atoms (or one deuterium and one regular hydrogen) bond with an oxygen atom. What do you get? A water molecule that is chemically indistinguishable from any other water molecule. And a hidey-hole, it seems, where the deuterium is protected.

Normal hydrogen is the simplest atom and is made up of one electron "orbiting" one proton. Deuterium is a hydrogen atom with a neutron added into the center. Tritium, if you've ever heard of that, is hydrogen with two neutrons. All of these are isotopes of hydrogen, with identical chemical properties but different atomic properties. From interstellar distances, it is possible to tell hydrogen gas from deuterium gas, which is how they know that there is more deuterium floating around than theories predict. With current technology, it is impossible to tell the difference between water made with just hydrogen and water made with mostly deuterium: it all looks like water.

The idea seems to be that the extra weight of deuterium is just enough more than ordinary hydrogen that it is less likely to get glommed together into stars. The result is that why hydrogen is being converted to other elements at a seemingly steady rate, deuterium isn't being converted as quickly because it is less likely to become part of a star's furnace. That throws a bit of a kink in cosmology, chemistry and physics.