Space Telescope Reveals Weird Star Cluster Conundrum 80
astroengine (1577233) writes "We thought we had star formation mechanisms pinned down, but according to new observations of two star clusters, it seems our understanding of how stars are born is less than stellar. When zooming in on the young star clusters of NGC 2024 (in the center of the Flame Nebula) and the Orion Nebula Cluster, NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory teamed up with infrared telescopes to take a census of star ages. Conventional thinking suggests that stars closest to the center of a given star cluster should be the oldest and the youngest stars can be found around the edges. However, to their surprise, astronomers have discovered that the opposite is true: 'Our findings are counterintuitive,' said Konstantin Getman of Penn State University, lead scientist of this new study. 'It means we need to think harder and come up with more ideas of how stars like our sun are formed.'"
"That's funny..." (Score:5, Insightful)
This reminds me of one of favorite Isaac Asimov quotes:
The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not "Eureka" but "That's funny..."
I hope this leads them to go get more data in addition to thinking harder and coming up with ideas.
Re:I really object to this (Score:5, Insightful)
in the eyes of doubters of science, this is taken literally and used to discredit science, time and time again.
Why write that shit? To the untrained eye it says "this just in: science WRONG again!".
Why the fuck should we care about the eyes of doubters of science?! Under no circumstance should we change our behavior to please those who refuse to think.
If someone believes science is wrong it's his problem, not ours.
Suppressing information to not disturb the flimsy grasp of reality makes no sense. Let our knowledge be seen, the successes and the mistakes, and let those who cover their eyes live in their puerile fantasies.