Images of the two stars engaged in a “cosmic battle” captured by the Atacama telescope. Photo: CNN
Not all companion stars share a friendly relationship. Evidence of a magnificent celestial showdown in space has been recently witnessed by astronomers.
According to CNN, astronomers have studied a binary star system named HD101584 using the world’s largest astronomical telescope in Atacama, Chile, to investigate what transpired. They discovered that two stars collided violently, but this collision also produced truly breathtaking images.
The primary star in the HD101584 binary system expanded as its hydrogen reservoirs were burned, transforming into a red giant—a stage in the evolution of stars before they die and become white dwarf stars.
Much like how typical red giants operate, the primary star in the binary system HD101584 expanded far beyond its initial size, surpassing even lower-mass stars.
However, the smaller star in the system responded differently, not shrinking as expected. Instead, it spiraled toward the core of the red giant in a helical motion. A collision was prevented, but this “aggressive” interaction caused the red giant to lose its outer gas layers. These gas layers were ejected, revealing the core of the red giant star.
A study of the HD101584 star system was recently published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.
“The HD101584 star system is special in the sense that the ‘dying process’ was terminated prematurely and abruptly when a low-mass companion star was engulfed by the red giant,” said Hans Olofsson, the study’s author, who works at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden.
The ultimate outcome of this “stellar battle” produced a stunning nebula, comprising materials ejected and concentric rings of various gas layers.
Observing an event like this provides deeper insights into what our Sun will undergo as it evolves.
“At present, we can describe the common dying processes for many Sun-like stars, but we cannot explain why or precisely how they occur,” said Sofia Ramstedt, co-author of the study, working at Uppsala University in Sweden.
“Sofia, advanced telescopes in the future will allow astronomers to have a clearer view of stars and learn much more about them. Currently, binary stars are either too distant from us or too close to each other to investigate further.”
In January, scientists studied data from NASA’s Kepler space telescope, which conducted a “planet-hunting” mission, and discovered a star in the “vampire” star system that was “sucking blood” from another star.
Images of the “vampire star” event where one star is “sucking life” from its companion star.
According to CNN, although the Kepler space telescope’s planet-hunting mission ended in 2018, astronomers continue to find valuable data provided by this space telescope. One surprising discovery was a white dwarf star “draining life” from its companion, a brown dwarf star.
This “vampire” star system is located nearly 3,000 light-years away, close to the Scorpius constellation.
When a star like the Sun reaches the end of its lifespan and burns all its fuel, it expands to become a red giant, expelling about half its mass. Nearby planets and asteroids begin to be consumed by this explosion.
The result is that the red giant star transforms into a hot, bright white dwarf left behind, and any surviving planets or asteroids move farther away because the primary star no longer has gravitational pull equivalent to before. The white dwarf star gradually cools over time.