Hearing this, Liu Xuan stood up reluctantly and quickly walked over: "I'll take a look." ”

"Here, this set of data, the radiation flow anomaly started at 23:51:32 on April 24, and lasted until 23:56:09 on April 24, and disappeared for less than five minutes.

"It is suspected that it is companion star data, but it cannot be ruled out that it is the atmospheric activity of Betelgeuse itself"

Liu Xuan pulled over a chair, sat down in front of the computer, and after carefully watching the abnormal data, he decisively got up and gave work arrangements to the other students of Nanjing University in the computing center.

"Cao Yang, Meng Can, you first pause the unfinished data analysis in your hands, find the data at 23:51 on April 24, and confirm that from 23:51 on April 24, no, from 23:50, observe whether there are other abnormalities in the data, and record if there are any abnormalities."

"Wei Cheng, you sort out the previous data, take a detailed data of Betelgeuse and give it to me, including the first set of abnormal data sorted out before, and send it to me."

“........”

One arrangement after another came out of Liu Xuan's mouth, of course, he was only a Nanjing student who made arrangements, and the personnel of the Institute of Astronomy were not his turn to command.

After the senior dealt with the matter, Xu Chuan stepped forward and asked about the situation.

Liu Xuan: "It's not clear if these anomalous data come from the companion star, but there is hope." ”

"If it is a companion star, other data in the time period from 51 minutes to 56 minutes will also have anomalies, such as luminosity, temperature, spectrum, color, and radiant energy, which must be mixed with some abnormal data."

"Based on this time, combined with the detailed data of Betelgeuse, the orbital period of the companion star can be roughly calculated, as long as the orbital period is determined, the approximate return cycle time of the next companion star can be locked, and as long as these abnormal data are confirmed again, it can be determined that the companion star really exists."

Xu Chuan nodded and said, "Thank you for your hard work, leave it to me to calculate the regression cycle, you can send the data to my mailbox, I have learned a little astronomical knowledge before and know how to calculate." ”

Although he didn't know much about astronomy, he had no problem calculating a star's orbit and regression cycle time.

The theorems applied to these things are quite basic, and the amount of computation is not very large.

The data is complete, and he can do it in a few hours at most.

Liu Xuan nodded and said, "Okay, then I'll speed up the progress and try to analyze all the data tonight." ”

........

After getting the data, Xu Chuan didn't waste time, directly found a place in the computing center and sat down, asked for a few A4 papers and pens, and began to calculate the companion star data in Betelgeuse's tetrahydrogen cladding on the spot.

It's not a difficult job for him, it's just a little more complicated.

After all, it is through Betelgeuse's hydrogen envelope to calculate an internal companion star, and many data are inaccurate and need to be estimated, which will also lead to inaccurate and large errors in the final calculated regression period.

However, it doesn't matter if there is an error, as long as you can determine a regression time point, it is enough to observe it again.

If the same anomaly can be observed again during the regression cycle, then it can be determined that Betelgeuse has a companion star in the hydrogen envelope.

After all, the periodicity and almost complete anomalies with Betelgeuse's observations are sufficient to prove that the observed anomalies are not caused by Betelgeuse's own activities.

It's not that stars don't have periodic activity, each star has its own unique activity point, and there are many periodicity.

However, the cycle of stellar activity is generally relatively long.

For example, the Sun, the main star of the solar system, is also the closest star to the Earth, and scientists have long discovered periodically active phenomena such as sunspots and flares on the surface of the Sun.

The duration of the activity cycle is about 11 years.

During this 11-year activity cycle, the internal activities of the sun will cause the ears, flares, sunspots, etc. on the surface of the sun to appear from low tide to high tide and then to low tide.

During the high tide of the sun's surface activities, solar radiation and solar wind will cause changes in some materials in the earth's air and on the ground, and may even change the earth's climate.

For example, artificial satellites, space stations, spacecraft, probes and other spacecraft in space are likely to be destroyed by solar winds of hundreds or thousands of kilometers per second.

Or during the high tide of the sun's surface activity, a large number of solar wind particles will be generated, which will reach the earth's surface through various forms such as aurora and particle storms, causing damage to the earth's power supply system, etc.

Although Xu Chuan didn't know how long Betelgeuse's activity cycle was, it would certainly not be short.

Judging from the observation data of Betelgeuse's scientific research experiments, the first observation of anomalous data of the companion star was on March 27, and the second time, that is, the discovery of anomalous data was on April 24.

If it is determined that both sets of data are companion stars, then the return period of the companion star is only 27 days, less than a month, or even shorter.

After all, from March 27th to April 24th, they did not observe Betelgeuse all the time, and they did not know if the intermediate companion had returned once or more.

........

“560~752。”

In the calculation center, Xu Chuan looked at the calculated data on the manuscript paper and spat out turbidity.

This is the time of the companion star's return cycle, which is also the orbital time of the companion star, calculated according to the data provided by the astronomical team.

Oh, and the unit of this data is hours, which is converted into days, which is about 23 days to 31 days.

The time deviation is a bit large, reaching a deviation of more than a week, but this is already the most accurate number that can be calculated based on the current data.

It is also consistent with the 27-day interval between the two anomalous data previously observed, indicating that the time of this calculated regression period is somewhat credible.

All that's left is to wait another month.

If anomalous data can be observed again in the following regression cycles, the data can be used to confirm the existence of a companion star inside Betelgeuse.

This discovery is of great significance to the astronomical community.

........

The time of night passed quickly, and after Xu Chuan calculated the return period of the companion star, several senior brothers of NTU also completed the analysis of radio telescope observation data.

It was finally determined that from the time node of 23:45 on April 24 to 0:09 on April 25, there were anomalies in the observed data of parameter 4.

Luminosity, surface temperature, spectrum, radiant flow, radiant energy, ....... and so on, and a number of abnormal data that do not conform to Betelgeuse itself have appeared.

In particular, the spectral data has large anomalies.

Betelgeuse is now a red supergiant with a spectrum of M1-M2ia-IAB, which is a well-established thing.

In such a short period of time, no matter how active it is, the spectral data it emits will not be too far from this spectrum.

But in tonight's anomalous data, the G-type spectral data was analyzed.

This type of spectral data should not appear on a red supergiant like Betelgeuse.

If you have this kind of spectral data, it should be stars like the Sun and Auriga, which have g-type spectral data.

This also confirms that Xu Chuan's previous calculation of the mass of the companion star has no problem, and it meets the spectral standard of the corresponding mass star.

In addition, there are some significant differences in the radiation data.

Only 13% of Betelgeuse's radiation energy is emitted through visible light, while most of the radiation is in the infrared range.

If the eye could perceive all the wavelengths of radiation, Betelgeuse, 640 light-years away, would be the brightest star in the entire sky, brighter than the Sun.

However, in this anomaly, it can be clearly observed that the weight of radiant energy in the visible light band has increased by nearly 7%.

This data is anomalous enough to show that there is something wrong with its source.

Based on the overall judgment, the probability of the existence of an associated star in Betelgeuse's hydrogen envelope has increased to more than 95%.

They are getting closer and closer to the truth.

.........

At one o'clock in the morning, the computing center was still brightly lit and a large number of people had gathered.

Not only a few senior brothers from the Department of Astronomy at NTU, but also the people from the Qinghai Astronomical Observatory were all blown up after hearing the news.

Xu Chuan and several senior brothers from Nanjing University sorted out the data from the beginning to the end of this scientific research experiment, removed the huge observation data, retained the key data points and calculation process, and copied the data in multiple copies and distributed them to the researchers of the Qinghai Astronomical Observatory.

"It's incredible, it's incredible."

"Judging from your observations, Betelgeuse does indeed have a never-before-discovered star hidden in the outer gas."

"This is a major discovery in the astronomical world!"

"There are differences in spectrum, radiant flow, and radiant energy, which is enough to confirm it."

"Huh~, how the hell did you find this?"

“.........”

In the computing center of the Qinghai Astronomical Observatory, the scientific researchers who have been working here all the year round were shocked and their jaws were about to fall to the ground after getting the research data of Xu Chuan and his party.

Is there a star in Betelgeuse's body?

This kind of unbelievable thing stimulates everyone's brain.

For the astronomical community, this is as simple as a world-class puzzle being solved, leaving countless questions to be solved.

If their information were published, astronomical stations around the world would have their eyes set on Betelgeuse, 640 light-years away.

This will not only bring new astronomical knowledge, but also set off a huge wave around the world, and bring countless scientific research funds to the astronomical community.

At the very least, countries definitely need to figure out what effect this companion star has on Betelgeuse, whether it will prompt Betelgeuse to explode as a supernova ahead of time, whether it will pose a threat to Earth or something.

More critical, and more valuable, is not the observational discovery of the existence of a companion star in Betelgeuse.

It is the calculation method of various data in this data!

........。