Beehive Cluster. Credit: Sven Kohle and Till Credner
Astronomers have detected a new low-mass eclipsing binary star in an open cluster named NGC 2632, better known as the Beehive Cluster (or Praesepe). The newly identified binary, designated PTFEB132.707+19.810, contains two late-type stars much smaller and less massive than the sun.
NGC 2632 is an open star cluster that looks like a hive of bees in the constellation Cancer. Located some 577 light years away, it is one of the nearest open clusters to the solar system. Due to its proximity, this cluster is the target of numerous observations conducted by astronomers searching for new objects, including eclipsing binaries. Such binaries could be very helpful in improving our known theoretical stellar evolution models.
Although PTFEB132...
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