Green Crystal 'Rain' Discovered Near Infant Star

An anonymous reader writes with this quote from a NASA press release: "Tiny crystals of a green mineral called olivine are falling down like rain on a burgeoning star, according to observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. This is the first time such crystals have been observed in the dusty clouds of gas that collapse around forming stars. Astronomers are still debating how the crystals got there, but the most likely culprits are jets of gas blasting away from the embryonic star. ... The crystals are in the form of forsterite. They belong to the olivine family of silicate minerals and can be found everywhere from a periodot gemstone to the green sand beaches of Hawaii to remote galaxies. NASA's Stardust and Deep Impact missions both detected the crystals in their close-up studies of comets. ... The findings (abstract) might also explain why comets, which form in the frigid outskirts of our solar system, contain the same type of crystals."

Comments

Re:How do they know

[MichaelSmith]

The linked abstract says:

The mid-infrared spectrum reveals crystalline substructure at 11.1, 16.1, 18.8, 23.6, 27.9, and 33.6 m superimposed on the broad 9.7 and 18 m amorphous silicate features; the substructure is well matched by the presence of the olivine end-member forsterite (Mg2SiO4).

So its basically spectroscopy. You plot amplitude vs wavelength for the light emitted by the star and associated material. Samples of different materials in the lab can be used to give you spectra for comparison. If you have a spectrum for kryptonite you could certainly plug it into the data.

Green lantern

[igny]

Nice advertisement for the green lantern.

Re:Green lantern

[Coisiche]

I had heard that studio advertising budgets where quite large but this must have cost a pretty penny to pull off.

Re:Green lantern

[circletimessquare]

No kidding.

When Pirate of the Caribbean 4 came out last week, with the new Blackbeard character, I saw this story:

http://www.google.com/search?q=blackbeard+anchor&tbm=nws

And I remember this happening with other movies too, obscure science stories tangentially related to what's currently in the multiplex coming to the mass media front page. I don't think these occurrences are a matter of weird coincidences, nor do I think movie PR firms are investing in astronomy or marine archeology. To use a word I hate: it's synergy. But it's natural, without coordinated effort:

1. It works for the scientists: all the movie hype can be milked for some extra interest in Blackbeard's anchor while Blackbeard is in every suburban multiplex.
2. The news media source wins too: you're going to get a lot more clicks on your news story if it dovetails with what everyone is watching in the movies.
3. And I guess you can call it a little extra bang for your movie advertising buck, as it keeps interest in your movie humming along.
4. And the general public wins too, I guess, if watching Green Lantern or Pirates of the Caribbean sends one or two suburban kids down the path of science.