(ORDO NEWS) — The Sun , like any other stars , was formed in a star cluster.
Future star brothers and sisters are born from a common gas cloud, which means they have an identical chemical composition. Knowing this fact allows astrophysicists to determine the birthplace of any stars.
Or almost any?
To date, scientists have examined nearly 100,000 stars no more than 325 light-years from Earth and found only 2 stars that can be identified as “relatives” of the Sun.
Where is the place where our luminary was born?
For a long time the ideal candidate was the open cluster Messier 67, 2900 light-years away from Earth.
There are stars that are very similar in chemical composition and temperature to the Sun, but the latest study of the region and computer simulations have refuted this assumption.
The current theory is that the Sun actually formed near the center of the Milky Way, but was “squeezed out” by its brethren early in its life and sent on a galactic journey.
In other words, our star may have drifted throughout its lifetime.
It is possible that the cluster where the Sun was born was destroyed as a result of a catastrophic event that occurred about 4.6 billion years ago (the age of our star), and the surviving stellar brothers scattered in different directions and formed their planetary systems.
It is noteworthy that astrophysicists do not have such problems with determining the birthplace of other stars, and our own Sun turned out to be a real mystery.
Active research is ongoing.
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