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ALMA returns to Boomerang Nebula: Companion star provides chilling power of 'Coldest Object in the Universe'


June 5, 2017

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An ancient, red giant star in the throes of a frigid death has produced the coldest known object in the cosmos--the Boomerang Nebula. How was this star able to create an environment strikingly colder than the natural background temperature of deep space? This mystery has persisted for more than two decades. The answer, according to astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), may be that a small companion star has plunged into the heart of the red giant.Full Story

Source
National Radio Astronomy Observatory

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