A New Piece in the Galactic Formation Puzzle by Aidan Subrahimovic

The study and understanding of radiation and how it affects our daily lives is a relatively young science that has not seen much of human history. However, computer simulations run by astrophysicists have suggested that stellar radiation is vital to the regulation of star formation in galaxies such as our own.

The observations made by astronomers in physical space, while informative, can be cryptic in finding the reasons that galaxies behave the way they do. To supplement their research, astrophysicists have used computer simulations of galaxies to understand more about their formation. The millions upon millions of years in a galaxy’s lifespan are compressed into a few seconds, and data on star formation rates are recorded for interpretation.

In most of these computer simulated galaxies, the majority of radiation present is generated by the deaths of stars in catastrophic events called supernovae. This, however, does not mimic the actual majority of radiation in real-life galaxies, which is generated by stars in the form of stellar radiation. For this reason, computer-generated galaxies can sometimes show an overabundance of stars that would not occur in nature.

With this in mind, a group of scientists with backings from Columbia University and the Flatiron Institute have devised a computer simulation that accurately simulates the amount of stellar radiation observed in real galaxies. The result was a computer-generated galaxy that had a fifth less stars than had been present in previous simulations, and a galaxy that more closely resembled those observed in physical space, demonstrating that stellar radiation plays a tremendous role in regulating star formation.

Stellar radiation is a phenomena that has been observed by scientists since the dawn of radiation science. Every active star in space emits tremendous amounts of energy every passing second in the form of radiation across the whole electromagnetic spectrum, which is then emitted into the vast empty space in between stars, referred to by scientists as the “interstellar medium,” or ISM. Our own sun emits massive bursts of radiation into the solar system in the form of solar flares, one of which containing enough energy to fully charge about ten billion iPhones.

Though solar flares seem harmless, they actually pose a considerable threat to various technologies we take advantage of daily. To humans on the Earth’s surface, even an extremely intense solar flare poses no threat, as the atmosphere serves as a protective barrier for the surface. From a technological standpoint, however, they can be quite disruptive, especially to telecommunicative technologies from cell phone service to air traffic control. In fact, the radiation can get so intense that high-flying airplanes run the risk of getting bathed in radiation if they fly too close to a solar flare. A solar flare in 1989 managed to leave a whopping six million people in the U. S. and Canada when it struck an electrical facility in Quebec.

The evidence found in this Columbia study suggests that stellar radiation is a necessary in regulating star formation in galaxies. Tons of scientific speculation on the origins of our galaxies have been validated by this research. It does, however, emphasize how deeply vulnerable our place in the universe is, and how the most natural processes in our galaxy can prove to be the most detrimental to humans.