“Ghost” stars are aligned in beautiful structures near the centre of our galaxy, scientists say – and they might finally be getting to know why. Researchers discovered the unusual alignment of these planetary nebulae ten years ago, when Manchester doctoral student Bryan Rees spotted them. But it has remained a mystery how they came to be that way. Now scientists have been able to confirm that unusual alignment. But they have also made a breakthrough in finding out why they are there, after they found that a particular group of stars known as binary stars is responsible. Planetary nebulae are gas clouds that are thrown out from stars when they come to the end of their life. Our own star, the Sun, will do the same in about five billion years. Those ejected clouds are like ghosts of their dying stars, and assemble themselves in beautiful shapes, researchers say, such as an hourglass or butterfly. Researchers studied a range of planetary nebulae that are near the centre of our Milky Way. Though they are not related and come from different stars and different times, many of their shapes are similar, lining up in the same way and on the same plane. In the new study, scientists found that the alignment happens when those ghosts have a close companion star. The companion orbits around the main star, at the centre of the planetary nebulae, at a very close orbit. Without such a companion star, the nebulae do not line up in the mysterious pattern. That suggests that the alignment is linked to the splitting of the binary components when the star is born. “This finding pushes us closer to understanding the cause for this mysterious alignment,” said Albert Zijlstra, co-author and professor in astrophysics at The University of Manchester. “Planetary nebulae offer us a window into the heart of our galaxy and this insight deepens our understanding of the dynamics and evolution of the Milky Way’s bulge region. “The formation of stars in the bulge of our galaxy is a complex process that involves various factors such as gravity, turbulence, and magnetic fields. Until now, we have had a lack of evidence for which of these mechanisms could be causing this process to happen and generating this alignment. “The significance in this research lies in the fact that we now know that the alignment is observed in this very specific subset of planetary nebulae.” Researchers looked at 136 confirmed planetary nebulae in the galactic bulge, or the thickest section of our Milky Way. They used the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope, and then looked at 40 more of them using images from the Hubble Space Telescope. The findings are reported in a new paper, ‘When the Stars Align: A 5 σ Concordance of Planetary Nebulae Major Axes in the Centre of our Galaxy’, in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. Read More Euclid: UK-backed mission ready to uncover mysteries of the dark universe Jeff Bezos’ rocket exploded and he didn’t tell anyone Nasa unveils ‘astrovans’ to carry Artemis moon mission astronauts Jeff Bezos’ rocket exploded and he didn’t tell anyone Nasa unveils ‘astrovans’ to carry Artemis moon mission astronauts Nasa releases James Webb telescope image on one-year anniversary

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A family of four and their three dogs were found shot dead in their home in a Chicago suburb – with the killer or killers now at large. The bodies of Alberto Rolon, Zoraida Bartolomei and their two children were found on Sunday after family members asked police to carry out a welfare check, Romeoville Police Deputy Chief Chris Burne said in a press conference on Monday. Police said that relatives had become concerned when one of the adults failed to turn up for work at 6am on Sunday morning and then didn’t respond to phone calls throughout the day. Officers carried out a welfare check at around 8.43pm at the family’s home on the residential 500 block of Concord Avenue in Romeoville. When police arrived at the home, the four family members were dead from gunshot wounds. Three dogs were also found shot dead inside the home. The names and ages of the children have not yet been released. In a statement, police said that the killings are believed to have happened between 9pm on Saturday evening and 5am on Sunday morning. Deputy Chief Burne said that investigators had ruled out a murder-suicide, with the perpetrator or perpetrator unknown at this time. “We do not believe the offender is among the victims,” he said during the press conference. “It is not a murder-suicide.” Despite concerns that the killer is out there, police said they do not feel the need to lock down the area. “Due to the timeframe that has gone by – more than 18 hours from the time we were contacted – we are not asking anybody to shelter in place, we are not actively looking for anybody in the area,” said Deputy Chief Burne. Currently, no further information about the killer is known, with locals voicing concerns that such a tragedy could unfold in what they thought was a peaceful residential area. Lynn Phillips, who lives one door down from the family’s home, told The Chicago Sun Times that it was “devastating”. “I’ve been crying on and off all day. It was a mom and dad and a couple of kids. The parents would be outside working the yard, and we’d wave hi and bye, that kind of thing. Nothing unusual. We all keep to ourselves,” the neighbour said. Cristina Ibarra, who has lived in the residential community for three years, told the paper that it is very unusual for police to even patrol the area because the streets are usually so quiet. “It’s sad because it’s your neighborhood and it’s usually quiet, and then this happens,” Ms Ibarra said. “It’s very sad.” Police said that the investigation is in the early stages, so further details will not yet be released due to the sensitivity of the case. Read More Former NFL player Sergio Brown missing; mother's body was found near suburban Chicago creek Owner of day care where toddler died of suspected fentanyl exposure dubbed ‘depraved’ in court hearing Delphi murders suspect makes bombshell claim that victims were ‘sacrificed’ by white nationalist cult

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