Spooky space: Blue ring nebula reveals the secrets of binary stars
It takes two to tango
Unlike our own Sun, most stars in theMilky Wayare found in binary systems, dancing with another star around their common center of gravity.
“Stellar mergers are a brief but common phase in the evolution of binary star systems. These events have many astrophysical implications; for example, they may lead to the creation of atypical stars… Although a handful of stellar mergers have been observed directly, the central remnants of these events were shrouded by an opaque shell of dust and molecules, making it impossible to observe their final state,” researchers wrote in an article inNaturedetailing the study.
In systems where stars are close enough can result in acollision between the stars, merging the bodies together into one massive star.
Orbital energy once present in the formerstarsresults in the ejection of large quantities of material from the newly-formed body.
“When neutron stars collide, all hell breaks loose. They start producing a tremendous amount of visible light, and also gamma rays, X-rays, radio waves,” describesFrans Pretorius, physics professor at Princeton.
Three eyes are better than two
Astronomers went to work studying the Blue RingNebula, using a pair of 10-meter telescopes — the HIRES optical spectrograph at the Keck Telescope in Hawaii, and the near-infrared Habitable-zone Planet Finder attached to the Hobby-Eberly Telescope in Texas.
Analysis revealed TYC 2597–735–1 is the product of a stellar merger that took place thousands of years ago.
The Blue Ring Nebula offers astronomers a unique target to study — a compositestarcaught still settling down from its birth in a cathartic stellar merger.
Story byThe Cosmic Companion
Exploring the wonders of the Cosmos, one mystery at a time.Exploring the wonders of the Cosmos, one mystery at a time.
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