A star ballet is taking place somewhere in the depths of our universe.
Three gigantic, brilliant stars are caught in a dance by
their own gravitational forces and aglow in their shared radiance against the
dark veil of space. Two fiery balls of gas are pirouetting closely around each
other, completing their mutual orbit to the beat of an Earth day. At the same
time, a third star steadily encircles the two, shining a light on their
performance.
Details on the cosmic predicament can be found in a study
published in the Royal Astronomical Society's Monthly Notices.
"As far as we know, it is the first of its kind ever
found," Alejandro Vigna-Gomez, a co-author of the article and an
astronomer at the University of Copenhagen, said in a statement.
According to Vigna-Gomez, we know of many secondary star
systems, but they are not just far farther away than this sparkling trio, but
they are also often less massive. By a long shot.
The interior, close-quarter binary stars have a combined
mass of around 12 times that of our sun, while the wide-field globe encircling
them has a mass of 16 times that of our sun. To put this in context, it would
take more than 330,000 Earths to equal one solar mass, which is 99.8% of the
mass of our entire solar system. Simply simply, these incredible ballerinas are
massive.
In the broader scheme of things, however, Vigna-Gomez was
after far more than just detecting this remarkable starry pattern. The goal was
to figure out how such a ferocious triplet – formally known as TIC 470710327 –
came to be.
A ballerina has gone missing.
Vigna-Gomez and colleague Bin Liu, a theoretical
astrophysicist also affiliated with the University of Copenhagen, first
proposed numerous scenarios for the newly discovered three-star system's
origins.
First and foremost, there was the notion that the larger,
outer star originated first. However, after considerable analysis, the
scientists recognised that such a stellar leviathan would have most likely
thrown material inward, disrupting the double stars' formation. There would
have been no need for a trio. Gaseous rubble would have rained down in all
directions.
Second, the scientists investigated the possibility that the
binary star dancers and third star spectator formed separately, far apart, and
subsequently collided due to some force of gravity. Though this situation has
not been completely ruled out, the experts believe it is not the greatest
option. They are far more focused on the final and desired option. A little
less collaborative.
What if two distinct binary star systems formed near one
other, then one of those pairs fused into a huge star, the researchers
wondered? If this is correct, the enormous combination star would be the one we
see today, orbiting the smaller – but still large – stars within.
In other words, it's feasible that a fourth dancer was part
of this cosmic ballet but was devoured by its own partner before the climactic
scene. This was the most likely case, according to the team's latest research,
which was based on tonnes of computer models and fascinatingly anchored in the
discoveries of citizen scientists.
"But a model is not enough," Vigna-Gomez said,
arguing that to prove his and Liu's suspicion with high certainty would require
either using telescopes to study the tertiary system in better detail or
statistically analyzing nearby star populations.
"We also encourage people in the scientific community
to look at the data deeply," Liu said in a statement. "What we really
want to know is whether this kind of system is common in our universe."
0 Comments