Frequent collisions of comets expose secrets that existed 17 years

Every 6 seconds for millions of years the comet have a collision with one another near the star lying in the constellation Cetus, which can be seen on the night sky with the naked eye.

The star, called 49 China, for a long time did not allow scientists to rest - it was unclear how the star, which is about 40 million years, so can surround a giant cloud of gas, usually associated with younger stars.

Currently, two professors at the University of California and the University of Georgia conducted a study that showed that a cloud of gas surrounding the 49 China, due to the existence in the system of a giant star belt of icy objects that resembles the Kuiper Belt, located in the solar system, only much more massive. A huge number of collisions between comets that belt lead to release huge amounts of carbon monoxide, which creates a huge cloud of gas around the star, according to scientists.

The work was published in The Astrophysical Journal.