Recent Comments

    binary star tagged posts

    White Dwarf Lashes Red Dwarf with Mystery Ray

    July 28, 2016, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    This artist's impression shows the strange object AR Scorpii. In this unique double star a rapidly spinning white dwarf star (right) powers electrons up to almost the speed of light. These high energy particles release blasts of radiation that lash the companion red dwarf star (left) and cause the entire system to pulse dramatically every 1.97 minutes with radiation ranging from the ultraviolet to radio. Credit: M. Garlick/University of Warwick, ESA/Hubble

    This artist’s impression shows the strange object AR Scorpii. In this unique double star a rapidly spinning white dwarf star (right) powers electrons up to almost the speed of light. These high energy particles release blasts of radiation that lash the companion red dwarf star (left) and cause the entire system to pulse dramatically every 1.97 minutes with radiation ranging from the ultraviolet to radio. Credit: M. Garlick/University of Warwick, ESA/Hubble

    Astronomers using Hubble along with other telescopes on the ground and in space, have discovered a new type of exotic binary star: in the system AR Scorpii a rapidly spinning white dwarf star is powering electrons up to almost the speed of light...

    Read More

    Final Kiss of 2 Stars Heading for Catastrophe

    October 21, 2015, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    This artist's impression shows VFTS 352 -- the hottest and most massive double star system to date where the two components are in contact and sharing material. The two stars in this extreme system lie about 160,000 light-years from Earth in the Large Magellanic Cloud. This intriguing system could be heading for a dramatic end, either with the formation of a single giant star or as a future binary black hole. Credit: ESO/L. Calcada

    This artist’s impression shows VFTS 352 — the hottest and most massive double star system to date where the two components are in contact and sharing material. The two stars in this extreme system lie about 160,000 light-years from Earth in the Large Magellanic Cloud. This intriguing system could be heading for a dramatic end, either with the formation of a single giant star or as a future binary black hole. Credit: ESO/L. Calcada

    Astronomers have found the hottest and most massive double star with components so close that they touch each other. The 2 stars in the extreme system VFTS 352 could be heading for a dramatic end, during which the two stars either coalesce to create a single giant star, or form a binary black hole...

    Read More

    Stellar Discovery: Massive Binary Star with Unique Properties

    September 12, 2015, Categories  Astronomy/Space, Physics

    The polarity of the star's surface magnetic field, north or south, is indicated by red and blue respectively. Yellow lines indicate the magnetic field lines running from the stellar surfaces. Credit: Visualisation courtesy of Volkmar Holzwarth, KIS, Freiburg

    The polarity of the star’s surface magnetic field, north or south, is indicated by red and blue respectively. Yellow lines indicate the magnetic field lines running from the stellar surfaces. Credit: Visualisation courtesy of Volkmar Holzwarth, KIS, Freiburg

    The 1st massive binary star, epsilon Lupi, in which both stars have magnetic fields has been discovered by a PhD candidate. A binary star is a star system consisting of 2 or more stars, orbiting around their common center of mass.For the past few years, BinaMIcS (Binarity and Magnetic Interactions in various classes of Stars) collaboration, formed to study the magnetic properties of close binaries, has been trying to find such an object. They have now discovered one using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope.

    “The origin of magnetism amo...

    Read More