Tag Archives: binary

Astronomers Identify Three Earth-Sized Exoplanets in a Close Binary Star System

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A researcher suggests that the binary star system TOI-2267 is likely home to two warm Earth-sized exoplanets and an additional candidate. A new paper published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics discusses these findings.

Artist’s impression of the binary star system TOI-2267. Image credit: Mario Sucerquia, Grenoble-Alpes University.

The system, known as G 222-3 or TIC 459837008, consists of the M5 type star TOI-2267A and the M6 type star TOI-2267B, which are separated by approximately 8 astronomical units.

Located about 22 parsecs (73.5 light-years) from the Sun in the constellation Cepheus, TOI-2267 presents a fascinating planetary arrangement.

Dr. Sebastian Zuniga Fernández, an astronomer at the University of Liege, stated, “Our analysis shows a distinct planetary configuration: two planets orbiting one star and a third planet orbiting its companion star.”

This discovery makes TOI-2267 the first known binary star system to host planets that transit around both stars.

Dr. Francisco Pozuelos from the Andalucía Astronomical Institute remarked, “Our findings set several records, making this star system the most compact and coolest known planet-planet pair, and it is the first observed instance of a planet transiting both components.”

Astronomers utilized the SPECULOOS and TRAPPIST telescopes along with their proprietary detection software, SHERLOCK, to identify the three planetary signals.

“Uncovering three Earth-sized planets within such a compact binary star system is an exceptional opportunity,” Dr. Zuniga-Fernández noted.

“This will enable us to scrutinize the limits of planet formation models in complex environments and deepen our understanding of the variety of planetary structures in our galaxy.”

The two confirmed planets, TOI-2267b and TOI-2267c, have orbital periods of 2.28 days and 3.49 days, respectively.

The authors currently cannot determine which star in the binary system the planets orbit.

When orbiting TOI-2267A, TOI-2267b and TOI-2267c exhibit radii of 1 and 1.14 Earth sizes, while their radii become 1.22 and 1.36 Earth radii when orbiting TOI-2267B.

Furthermore, researchers detected a third strong signal with a period of 2.03 days, which is still classified as a planetary candidate, having sizes of 0.95 or 1.13 Earth radii depending on whether it orbits TOI-2267A or TOI-2267B.

Dr. Pozuelos added, “This system serves as a genuine natural laboratory for exploring how rocky planets can form and persist under extreme mechanical conditions that were previously thought to endanger their stability.”

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S. Zuniga-Fernandez et al. 2025. Two warm Earth-sized exoplanets and an Earth-sized candidate planet in the M5V-M6V binary star system TOI-2267. A&A 702, A85; doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202554419

Source: www.sci.news

Observations Indicate OJ 287 Galaxy May Host an Ultra-Massive Black Hole Binary at Its Core

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Utilizes data from 10m space-based wireless telescopes, including Radioastron. Astronomers have formed a network of 27 ground observation stations focused on OJ 287, a galaxy approximately 5 billion light-years distant from the Cancer constellations.

This image of OJ 287 reveals the sharply curved ribbon-like structure of the plasma jet emitted from its center. Image credits: Efthalia Traianou / Heidelberg University / IWR.

“Among the different types of active galactic nuclei, BL Lacertae (BL LAC) objects are notable for their rapid, large-amplitude variability and significant polarization across multiple wavelengths due to relativistic jets aligned closely with our line of sight.”

“A standout example of this subclass is OJ 287, characterized by a redshift of z = 0.306.”

Optical observations of OJ 287 have yielded an extensive light curve extending back to the 1880s, covering nearly 150 years.

This comprehensive dataset has uncovered periodic brightness variations, featuring marked 60-year cycles and notable high-brightness flares with recurrent double peaks occurring approximately every 12 years.

These periodic changes can be attributed to the presence of a binary supermassive black hole system, where secondary supermassive black holes follow eccentric precession paths around the more massive primary.

“The level of detail in the new images allows us to see the structure of the OJ 287 Galaxy like never before,” stated Dr. Traianou.

“The images penetrate deep into the galaxy’s center, revealing the jet’s sharply curved ribbon-like structure.”

“This also provides new insights into the composition and dynamics of plasma jets.”

“Certain regions exceed temperatures of 10 trillion Kelvin, indicating the release of extreme energy and movement near the black hole.”

Astronomers have also monitored the development, dispersion, and interactions of new shock waves along the jet, linking them to energies in the range of trillions of electron volts from rare gamma-ray observations made in 2017.

Using Radioastron and 27 terrestrial observatories, they captured images of OJ 287 across the radio spectrum.

The imaging relies on measurement techniques that utilize overlapping waves related to the properties of light waves.

“Interference measurement images bolster the hypothesis that a binary supermassive black hole resides within OJ 287,” the researchers commented.

“This also offers critical insights on how these black holes influence the shape and direction of the emitted plasma jet.”

“These unique characteristics position the galaxy as an ideal candidate for further studies on black hole mergers and associated gravitational waves.”

Survey results will be published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.

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E. Traianou et al. 2025. Reveal ribbon-like jets on OJ 287 via Radioastron. A&A 700, A16; doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202554929

Source: www.sci.news

Discovery of a Compact Binary System: A Neutron Star Orbiting Within Another Star

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This binary system comprises a PSR J1928+1815 along with a rapidly spinning millisecond pulsar known as the Helium Star Companion.

The AI impression of the compact binary system. Image credit: Gemini AI.

The millisecond pulsar consists of rapidly rotating neutron stars that emit radio waves.

These stars attain remarkable rotational velocities by harvesting material from surrounding stellar groups.

The development of such exotic binary systems remains partially understood, as it encompasses a range of complex processes.

The theory suggests that binary systems may undergo a common envelope phase, where a star orbits within the outer layer of its companion.

If the companion in this evolutionary phase is a neutron star, the theory indicates that the outer layer will be swiftly ejected, resulting in a binary system of recycled pulsars and stripped helium stars.

In the recent study, Dr. Zonglin Yang, a national astronomer at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, along with colleagues, examined the millisecond pulsar PSR J1928+1815.

Utilizing data from a high-speed 500-meter aperture spherical radio telescope, they discovered that the pulsar has a spin period of 10.55 ms and resides in a close binary system with companion helium stars, completing an orbit every 3.6 hours.

They employed a stellar model to demonstrate that this system originated following an unstable mass transfer from companion stars to neutron stars, leading to the formation of a common envelope around both stellar objects.

The neutron star approached the core of the other star, ejected the outer envelope, and released energy, resulting in a tightly bound binary system.

“The companion star has a mass between 1.0 and 1.6 solar masses, obscuring the pulsar approximately 17% of its orbit and is undetectable at other wavelengths, suggesting it is likely a stripped helium star,” the authors noted.

“We interpret this system as having recently undergone a common envelope phase to create compact binaries.”

“Such systems are thought to be rare, yet we anticipate the existence of others,” they added.

“We estimate that there could be between 16 and 84 undiscovered examples within the Milky Way.”

The findings are documented in a paper published in the journal Science.

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Zl Yang et al. 2025. A pulsar helium star compact binary system formed by common envelope evolution. Science 388 (6749): 859-863; doi: 10.1126/science.ado0769

Source: www.sci.news

Strange vertical orbits of an exoplanet observed around a binary brown dwarf system

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Impression of the artist in the unusual orbit around the brown dwarf of ExoPlanet 2M1510 (AB)B

ESO/L. Calsada

It was first revealed that a pair of rare stars have equally rare companions, exoplanets that rush into orbit vertically.

Astronomers may think they know what the normal thing is about stars and planets, but they say, “But the universe is very diverse.” Amaury Triaud At the University of Birmingham, UK. He and his colleagues unexpectedly discovered evidence of rare constructs while analyzing data collected by a very large Chilean telescope.

The two stars are brown d stars. This means that they are small and very dim because they cannot maintain fusion and are often referred to as failed stars or subseber ral objects. They follow orbit and continue to cover each other when viewed from Earth. Researchers have previously observed only one brown d-star binary.

Triaud and his colleagues carefully analyzed the new binary system to determine the mass of the stars and their movements, and unexpectedly strange signals were found in the data. Ultimately, the only physical scenario that can explain it is that of a planet-sized object orbiting two stars, following an ellipse perpendicular to the star’s orbit.

Triaud says that vertical orbit is not entirely unheard of, but he and his colleagues never expected to see it in this context. “Brown dwarfs are rare. Brown dwarf pairs are rare. Covering a pair of brown dwarfs is even more unusual and faint, making it difficult to measure,” he says. “That was a surprise. In a system that is ideal and not rare in itself, there is this configuration.”

Twenty years ago, such a structure was considered science fiction, but now it has become a scientific fact. Katherine Brandel At Oxford University. “This is a truly beautiful outcome,” she says. Details of the impending orbit of the two stars make a strong claim that this “harmonograph of the sky” is authentic. By studying how they eat each other, we can identify more details about this unique trio’s moves going forward, Blundell says.

Researchers would like to learn more about the exoplanet named 2M1510(AB)B, but can be compared to a fictional tattoo. Star Warsa desert world orbiting two suns. However, the two suns on the 2M1510(AB)B dimming and get exposed to the surface with something similar to the double dose of moonlight.

topic:

Source: www.newscientist.com

White dwarf binary system linked to irregular radio signals

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Astrophysicists have discovered ILT J110160.52+552119.62, a recently discovered temporary radio source, and that the arrival of that approximately one minute pulse with a periodicity of 125.5 minutes is a red-white, white-white dwarf binary system with orbital periods that match the orbital period observed when two stars are observed when they are engaging.

Artistic illustration showing radioactive pulses emitted by the binary star system: white d star orbit around a red d star. Image credits: Daniëlle Futselaar/Artsource.nl.

In recent years, astronomers have detected radio pulses from sources in the Milky Way that last from seconds to minutes.

These pulses differ from what you would expect from known pulsars that produce pulses on the order of milliseconds.

Furthermore, unlike radiopulsars, these so-called long-term transients (LPTs) are periodic on timescales ranging from minutes to hours.

There have been some hypotheses regarding the origin of these novel pulses, but evidence is scarce.

“There are several highly magnetized neutron stars or magnetores known to exhibit radio pulses in periods of a few seconds,” said Charles Kilpatrick, a northwestern astrophysicist.

“Some astrophysicists also claim that the source is spinning and can emit pulses at regular time intervals, so radio emissions are only shown when the source rotates towards us.”

“I know now that at least some long-term radio transients come from binary.”

“We hope this motivates radio astronomers to localize new classes of sources that could arise from neutron stars or magnetoresistance binaries.”

In their study, Dr. Kilpatrick and colleagues focused on periodic radio signals from transient radio sources designated as ILT J110160.52+552119.62 (ILT J1101+5521);

New imaging techniques were used to detect some of these radio pulses in data collected by low frequency arrays (LOFAR).

Behaving like a large radio camera, the telescope can pinpoint the exact location of the radio source in the sky.

According to the team, the Object is about 1,600 light years away in the Ursa major's constellation.

Follow-up observations with multiple mirror telescopes of 6.5 m diameter in Arizona and the Texas Hobby and Everly telescope showed that the ILT J1101+5521 is not a single flashing star, but two stars that cause pulses together.

A white dwarf in orbit around the two stars, the red war star, brings a common center of gravity into orbit every 125.5 minutes.

Researchers say there are two possibilities for the way stars produce unusually long radio pulses.

Potentially, radio bursts can be emitted from the strong magnetic field of a white dwarf or generated by the interaction of a white dwarf and its stellar companion magnetic field.

However, further observation is required to make this clear.

“Thanks to this discovery, we know that compact objects other than neutron stars can produce bright radio emissions,” says Dr. Kaustub Rajwade, an astronomer at Oxford University.

Discoveries are reported in a paper It's published in the journal today Natural Astronomy.

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I. de Ruiter et al. Sporadicated radio pulses from white dwarf binaries during orbit. Nut AthlonPublished online on March 12, 2025. doi:10.1038/s41550-025-02491-0

Source: www.sci.news

Binary star system found in close proximity to the central black hole of the Milky Way galaxy

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Using data from ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) and the Keck Telescope, astronomers detected a binary star system in the S star cluster near Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. I discovered it. This is the first time that a binary star has been discovered near a supermassive black hole.

This image shows the location of binary star D9 orbiting Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. Image credit: ESO / Peißker et al. / S. Guizard.

Sagittarius A* is orbited by fast stars and dusty objects collectively known as the S cluster.

Binary star systems (two stars gravitationally bound to each other around a common center of mass) are predicted to exist within the S cluster, but have not been detected so far.

Previous studies have suggested that such stars are unlikely to be stabilized by their interactions with Sagittarius A*.

“Black holes are not as destructive as we think,” says Florian Peisker, an astronomer at the University of Cologne.

“Our findings show that some binaries can temporarily thrive even under disruptive conditions.”

The newly discovered binary star, named D9, is estimated to be just 2.7 million years old.

Due to the strong gravity of the nearby black hole, it will probably merge into a single star within just a million years, a very short time for such a young system.

“This only provides a short window on the cosmic timescale for observing such binary star systems, but we succeeded,” said Dr. Emma Bordier, also from the University of Cologne. Ta.

“The D9 system shows clear signs of gas and dust surrounding the star, suggesting it may be a very young system that must have formed near a supermassive black hole. ” said Dr. Michal Zajacek. Astronomer at Masaryk University and the University of Cologne.

The most mysterious of the S clusters are the G objects, which behave like stars but look like clouds of gas and dust.

It was while observing these mysterious objects that the research team discovered a surprising pattern in D9.

“This result sheds new light on what the mysterious G-objects are,” the authors said.

“They may actually be a combination of binaries that have not yet merged and leftover material from stars that have already merged.”

“Planets often form around young stars, so this discovery allows us to speculate about their existence,” Dr. Pisker said.

“It seems like it’s only a matter of time before planets are detected at the center of the galaxy.”

a paper This discovery was published in today’s magazine nature communications.

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F. Peisker others. 2024. A binary star system in the S star cluster near the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A*. Nat Commune 15, 10608; doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-54748-3

Source: www.sci.news

Astrophysicists discover that black hole-hosting binary star V404 Cygnus is part of a triple system

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V404 Cygnus, an X-ray binary star that hosts a low-mass black hole, has a wide echelon with a tertiary companion at least 3,500 astronomical units (AU) away from the inner binary, according to MIT astrophysicists. It is said to be part of a triple star.

V404 SIGNI. Image credit: Verge others., doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-08120-6.

V404 Cygni is located approximately 7,800 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus.

This system first attracted attention more than 80 years ago, during the 1938 nova explosion.

Another eruption occurred in 1989 and was discovered by the Japanese X-ray satellite Ginga and high-energy instruments aboard the Mir space station.

The 1989 explosion, known as Nova Cygnus 1989, was pivotal in the study of black holes.

Until then, astronomers had known of only a handful of objects that could be black holes, and V404 Cygnus was one of the most likely candidates.

V404 Cygnus is known to host a central stellar-mass black hole in the act of consuming a small star that spirals very close to the black hole every 6.5 days. This is a configuration similar to most binary star systems.

But new research suggests there's a second star orbiting the black hole, albeit much further away.

“Most black holes are thought to be formed by violent explosions of stars, but this discovery helps cast doubt on that,” said Kevin Burge, a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Ta.

“This system is very interesting for the evolution of black holes, and also raises the question of whether triples exist.”

Artist's impression of V404 Cygnus: The central black hole (black dot) is consuming a nearby star (orange object on the left), while the second star (white flash at the top) is far away orbiting a distance of Image credit: Jorge Lugo.

Burge and his colleagues estimate that the third companion star orbits the V404 Cygnus black hole every 70,000 years.

The fact that black holes appear to exert a gravitational pull on distant objects raises questions about the origins of black holes themselves.

Black holes are thought to be formed by violent explosions of dying stars. This is a process known as a supernova, in which a star releases a huge amount of energy and light in one final burst before collapsing into an invisible black hole.

But the team's findings suggest that if the newly observed black hole had originated from a typical supernova, the energy released before it collapsed would have kicked loosely bound objects around it. It suggests that it might have been.

So the second outer star shouldn't be hanging around yet.

Instead, the authors believe that the V404 Cygnus black hole formed through a more gentle process of direct collapse, in which the star simply collapsed and formed the black hole without a final, dramatic flash. I think it might be.

Such a benign origin poses little impediment to loosely bound, distant objects.

Because V404 Cygnus contains a very distant star, this suggests that the black holes in this system were born through a more gradual, direct collapse.

And while astronomers have observed more violent supernovae for centuries, this triple system may be the first evidence of a black hole formed from this more gentle process.

In addition to providing clues about the black hole's origin, the outer star also revealed the age of the system.

Astrophysicists observed that the outer star happened to be in the process of becoming a red giant, a stage that occurs at the end of a star's life.

Based on this star's evolution, they determined that the outer star was about 4 billion years old.

Considering that the neighboring stars were born at about the same time, they conclude that the components of the binary star are also 4 billion years old.

“This has never been done before with old black holes,” Dr. Burge says.

“Thanks to this discovery, we now know that V404 Cygnus is part of a triple star. It may have formed by direct collapse, and it formed about 4 billion years ago.”

of findings Published in this week's magazine nature.

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KB barge others. The black hole low-mass X-ray binary V404 Cygnus is part of a wide triple. naturepublished online October 23, 2024. doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-08120-6

Source: www.sci.news

Recent research indicates that Betelgeuse may actually be a binary star

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Betelgeuse, also known as Alpha Orionis or Alpha Ori, is the second closest red supergiant star to Earth. From November 2019 to March 2020, the star experienced a historic diminution in visible brightness. Its apparent magnitude is usually between 0.1 and 1, but around February 7-13, 2020, its visual brightness decreased to magnitude 1.6. This event is called the Great Fading of Betelgeuse. A new study shows that the observed dimming is probably caused by an invisible companion star orbiting Betelgeuse. The companion, named Alpha Ori B, or Betelbuddy, acts like a snowplow as it orbits Betelgeuse, pushing light-blocking dust out of the way and making Betelgeuse appear temporarily brighter.

Graphic depiction of Betelgeuse and Betel Buddy. Image credit: Lucy Reading-Ikanda/Simons Foundation.

Betelgeuse, the second brightest star in the constellation Orion, is an 8 million-year-old red supergiant star about 724 light-years from Earth.

With a radius about 1,400 times larger than the Sun, Betelgeuse is one of the largest known stars.

It is also one of the brightest stars known, emitting more light than 100,000 suns.

The star is nearing the end of its life, and when it explodes, the event will be bright enough to be visible during the day for several weeks.

Astronomers can predict when Betelgeuse will explode by effectively “checking the pulse.”

This is a variable star, meaning it brightens and dims, pulsating like a heartbeat.

Betelgeuse has two heartbeats. One pulsates on a timescale of slightly longer than a year, and the other on a timescale of about 6 years.

One of these heartbeats is Betelgeuse's fundamental mode, a pattern of brightening and dimming unique to the star itself.

If a star's fundamental mode is its long-scale pulse, Betelgeuse could be ready to explode sooner than expected.

However, if the fundamental mode is that short-scale heartbeat, as some studies have suggested, then that longer heartbeat is a phenomenon called long secondary period.

In that case, this long brightening and dimming would be caused by something outside the star.

Scientists still don't know exactly what causes the long secondary period, but one leading theory is that the star has a companion star orbiting it and flying through the cosmic dust produced and ejected by the star. A secondary period occurs when the

The displaced dust changes the amount of starlight that reaches Earth, changing the star's apparent brightness.

Astrophysicist Jared Goldberg of the Flatiron Institute and his colleagues are investigating whether other processes, such as stirring inside the star or periodic changes in the star's strong magnetic field, could have caused the long secondary periods. was investigated.

After combining data from direct observations of Betelgeuse with sophisticated computer models that simulate the star's activity, the researchers concluded that Betelgeuse was the most likely explanation.

“We've eliminated all possible inherent variables as to why it brightens and dims the way it does,” Dr. Goldberg said.

“The only hypothesis that seems compatible is that Betelgeuse has a companion star.”

The authors have not yet determined exactly what Betelbadi is, but they assume it is a star with up to twice the mass of the Sun.

“Other than giving us constraints on mass and orbit, it's hard to say what the companion star actually is,” said Dr. Meridith Joyce, an astronomer at the University of Wyoming.

“A Sun-like star is the most likely type of companion star, but it's not definitive.”

Next, the team will try to take images of Bethelvadi with telescopes, as visibility may open around December 6, 2024.

“Since our results are based on inference rather than direct detection, we need to confirm that Betelbadi actually exists,” said Dr. László Molnár, an astronomer at the Konkoli Observatory.

“So we are currently working on an observation proposal.”

of findings will appear in astrophysical journal.

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Jared A. Goldberg others. 2024. Betelgeuse's companion: Binary stardom as the origin of Alpha Orionis' long secondary period. APJin press. arXiv: 2408.09089

Source: www.sci.news

Hubble captures twin stars in R Aquarii binary system

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Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have created a unique time-lapse of R Aquari's dynamic behavior from observations spanning 2014 to 2023.

The two stars in the R Aquarii binary system are approximately 1.6 billion miles apart. Image credits: NASA / ESA / Matthias Stute / Margarita Karovska / Davide De Martin / Mahdi Zamani / N. Bartmann, ESA, Hubble.

Located 650 light years away, R Aquary is a so-called symbiotic binary, consisting of two stars surrounded by a large, dynamic cloud of gas.

Such binaries contain two stars in an unequal and complex relationship: a white dwarf and a red giant.

In a disturbing act of stellar cannibalism, white dwarfs are stripping material from their larger companions.

Suffering red giants and unstable white dwarfs occasionally eject material in strange eruptions, loops, and trajectories.

“The twisted outflow of stars makes the region look like an out-of-control lawn sprinkler,” Hubble astronomers said in a statement.

“This dramatically shows how the universe redistributes the products of nuclear energy that form deep inside stars and are jetted out into space.”

“Aquarius R belongs to a class of double stars called symbiotic stars,” they added.

“The host star is an aging red giant star, and its companion star is a compact, burnt-out star known as a white dwarf.”

“The red giant star is mira variable It is more than 400 times larger than the Sun. ”

“The expanded monster star pulsates, changes temperature, and changes brightness by a factor of 750 over a period of approximately 390 days.”

“At its peak, the star is blindingly bright, about 5,000 times brighter than the Sun.”

“When the white dwarf comes closest to the red giant star during its 44-year orbit, it gravitationally sucks out hydrogen gas.”

“This material accumulates on the surface of the dwarf star until spontaneous nuclear fusion occurs, causing the surface to explode like a giant hydrogen bomb.”

“After the explosion, the fueling cycle begins again.”

“This explosion causes geyser-like filaments to erupt from the core, forming strange loops and trajectories as the plasma emerges as a streamer.”

“The plasma is twisted by the force of the explosion and guided upwards and outwards by a strong magnetic field.”

“The outflow appears to be folded into a spiral pattern.”

“Plasma is ejecting into space at more than 1.6 million km (1 million miles) per hour, which is fast enough to travel from Earth to the Moon in 15 minutes.”

“The filament glows in visible light because it is energized by intense radiation from the star.”

Source: www.sci.news

352 new binary asteroid candidates discovered by ESA’s Gaia mission

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Binary asteroid systems have attracted the attention of the scientific community due to their intriguing properties and significant impact on our understanding of the Solar System. Unlike single asteroids, binary systems provide unique insights into many fundamental processes, including planetary formation and evolution, collision dynamics, and gravitational interactions.

Gaia has discovered possible moons around 352 asteroids that are not known to have companion stars. Image courtesy of ESA.

Asteroids are fascinating celestial objects that hold unique insights into the formation and evolution of our solar system.

Binary stars are even more fascinating because they allow astronomers to study how different objects in the universe form, collide, and interact.

With our unique all-sky scanning function, ESA's Gaia satellite Since its launch in 2013, it has made a number of important asteroid discoveries.

In Data Release 3, Gaia pinpointed the positions and movements of more than 150,000 asteroids. That precision has allowed scientists to probe deeper, looking for asteroids that exhibit a characteristic “wobble” caused by the gravitational pull of their orbiting companion stars.

Gaia has also collected data on the asteroid's chemistry, compiling the largest ever collection of asteroid reflectance spectra – light curves that reveal an object's color and composition.

More than 150,000 orbits determined in Gaia's Data Release 3 were refined as part of the mission's Focused Product Release last year, making them 20 times more accurate.

Gaia's upcoming Data Release 4 (due after mid-2026) is expected to reveal the orbits of even more asteroids.

“Binary asteroids are difficult to find because most are very small and far away from Earth,” said Dr Luana Liberato, an astronomer at the Observatory of the Côte d'Azur.

“Although just under one in six asteroids are predicted to have companion stars, only half a billion of the one million known asteroids have been found to be in binary systems.”

“But this discovery shows that there are many more asteroid moons still waiting to be discovered.”

“If confirmed, this new discovery adds 352 potential binary systems, nearly doubling the known number of moon-bearing asteroids.”

“Gaia is proving to be an excellent asteroid explorer, working hard to unlock the secrets of the universe, both within our solar system and beyond,” said Dr Timo Prusti, ESA's Gaia project scientist.

“This discovery highlights the Gaia data release as a major improvement in data quality and demonstrates the incredible new science made possible by this mission.”

a paper A paper describing the results has been published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.

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L. Liberato others2024. Binary asteroid candidate in the Gaia DR3 astronomical measurements. A&A 688, A50;doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202349122

This article was based on an original release from ESA.

Source: www.sci.news

Hubble Space Telescope Discovers a Massive Binary Protostar within the RCW 7 Nebula

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RCW 7 is located in the constellation Puppis, about 5,300 light years from Earth.

This Hubble image shows the nebula RCW 7. Image courtesy of NASA/ESA/Hubble/J. Tan, Chalmers University, University of Virginia.

“Nebulae are regions of space that are rich in the raw materials needed to form new stars,” the Hubble astronomers said.

“Due to the effects of gravity, some of these molecular clouds collapse and merge into protostars surrounded by a rotating disk of remaining gas and dust.”

“In the case of RCW 7, the protostar forming here is particularly massive, emitting intense ionizing radiation and a powerful stellar wind that propelled the star into a “H II region“.

“The H II regions are filled with hydrogen ions. HI refers to regular hydrogen atoms, and H II is hydrogen that has lost an electron.”

“Ultraviolet rays from the massive protostar excite the hydrogen, which then emits light that gives the nebula its soft pink glow.”

In RCW 7, the researchers IRAS 07299-1651.

“IRAS 07299-1651 still resides within a cocoon of glowing gas, in clouds swirling towards the top of the nebula,” the researchers said.

To expose this star and its sibling, the new image was created from separate exposures taken in the near-infrared region of the spectrum. Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3).

“This massive protostar is most bright in ultraviolet light, but it also emits a lot of infrared light that penetrates much of the surrounding gas and dust and can be seen by the Hubble Telescope,” the scientists said.

“Many of the other large visible stars in this image are not part of the nebula, but are located between the nebula and the solar system.”

Assuming a circular orbit, IRAS 07299-1651 is estimated to have a minimum total mass of 18 times that of the Sun and a maximum period of 570 years.

“The formation of the H II region marks the beginning of the end of the molecular cloud,” the authors said.

“Over just a few million years, radiation and winds from the massive stars gradually disperse the gas, and this dispersion continues as the most massive stars end their lives in supernova explosions.”

“Only a small portion of this gas will be absorbed by new stars within the nebula, while the rest will spread throughout the galaxy and eventually form new molecular clouds.”

Team Investigation result Published in a journal Natural Astronomy.

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Y. Chan others2024. Dynamics of a giant binary star at birth. Nat Astron 3, 517-523; doi: 10.1038/s41550-019-0718-y

Source: www.sci.news

Astronomers report that the moons orbiting asteroid Dinkinesh are in a contact binary configuration

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Dinkinesh is a small asteroid orbiting the Sun near the inner edge of the main asteroid belt. NASA’s Lucy spacecraft recently revealed that this asteroid, with an effective diameter of just 720 meters, is unexpectedly complex. The asteroid has a pronounced valley covered by an equatorial ridge and is currently orbited by a contact binary moon, named Seram, which consists of two nearly equal lobes with diameters of 210 meters and 230 meters. The moon orbits at a distance of 3.1 kilometers from Dinkinesh, has an orbital period of about 52.7 hours, and is tidally locked.

Stereo image pair (a-c) taken by the L’LORRI instrument aboard NASA’s Lucy spacecraft on November 1, 2023, shows asteroid Dinkinesh. Yellow and rose dots indicate valley and ridge features, respectively. These images have been sharpened and processed to enhance contrast. Image (d) shows a side-on view of Dinkinesh and its moon Ceram, taken a few minutes after closest approach. Image credit: NASA/GSFC/SwRI/Johns Hopkins APL/NOIRLab.

“We want to understand the strength of small bodies in the solar system because it’s important to understanding how planets like Earth got here,” said Dr. Hal Levison, a research scientist at Southwest Research Institute and Lucy principal investigator.

“Essentially, planets formed when a bunch of tiny objects orbiting the sun, like asteroids, collided with each other.”

“How objects behave when they collide – whether they break or stick together – has a lot to do with the object’s strength and internal structure.”

The researchers believe that how Dinkinesh responded to stress may reveal something about its inner workings.

As it rotated in sunlight for millions of years, tiny forces from thermal radiation radiating from the asteroid’s warm surface created tiny torques that caused Dinkinesh to spin gradually faster, and the accumulated centrifugal forces caused parts of the asteroid to become more elongated.

This event likely sent debris into close orbit, providing the raw material for the formation of the ridge and moons.

If Dinkinesh had been a weaker, more mobile mass of sand, its particles would have gradually migrated toward the equator and then blasted off into orbit as it rotated faster.

But the images suggest that, like rock, the Dinkinesh asteroid was stronger than a fluid and held together longer, until it eventually disintegrated under pressure and broke into larger pieces. Still, the force needed to break up a small asteroid like Dinkinesh is tiny compared to most rocks on Earth.

“This valley suggests a sudden collapse, more like an earthquake, where stress builds up gradually and then is suddenly released, rather than the slow process that creates sand dunes,” said Dr. Keith Noll, a research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and a Lucy scientist.

“These features show that Dinkinesh has some strength, and we can do a bit of historical reconstruction to see how this asteroid evolved,” Dr Levison said.

“During that collapse, the rocks broke apart and things separated, forming a disk of material, some of which rained down to the surface and formed the ridge.”

“We think that some of the material in the disk formed the moon Ceram, which is actually a structure where two celestial bodies are in contact with each other, known as a contact binary. The details of how this unusual moon formed remain a mystery.”

of Investigation result Published in the journal Nature.

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H.F. Levison others2024. Contact binary moon of asteroid (152830) Dinkinesh. Nature 629, 1015-1020; doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07378-0

Source: www.sci.news

Unexpectedly large stellar-mass black hole spotted in close binary star system

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Using data from ESA’s Gaia mission, astronomers discovered a nearby binary system of massive stars orbiting a dormant star-derived black hole over a period of 11.6 years. The black hole’s estimated mass (33 solar masses) is significantly larger than all known stellar-mass black holes in the Milky Way and within the mass range of extragalactic black holes detected by gravitational waves.

Locations of the first three black holes discovered in the Milky Way by ESA’s Gaia mission. Image credit: ESA/Gaia/DPAC.

The binary star system in question is named Gaia BH3 and is located 1,926 light-years from Earth in the constellation Aquila.

Also known as Gaia DR3 4318465066420528000, LS II +14 13, and 2MASS J19391872+1455542, it consists of an old, very metal-poor giant star and a dormant stellar-mass black hole.

Gaia BH3 is the third dormant black hole discovered by ESA’s interstellar mapping satellite Gaia.

“This is the kind of discovery that only happens once in a research career,” said Dr. Pasquale Panuzzo, an astronomer at the CNRS and the Paris Observatory.

“So far, black holes this large have only been detected in distant galaxies by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA collaboration, thanks to observations of gravitational waves.”

The average mass of the known stellar-origin black holes in our galaxy is about 10 times the mass of the Sun.

Astronomers face the pressing problem of explaining the origin of black holes as large as Gaia BH3.

Our current understanding of how massive stars evolve and die does not immediately explain how this type of black hole could be born.

Most theories predict that as massive stars age, a significant portion of their material is shed by powerful winds. Eventually, it will be partially blown into space when it explodes as a supernova.

The remainder of the core shrinks further, becoming either a neutron star or a black hole, depending on its mass.

It is extremely difficult to explain a core large enough to eventually become a black hole 30 times the mass of the Sun. But the clues to solving this mystery may lie very close to Gaia BH3.

The star, which orbits Gaia BH3 at about 16 times the distance between the Sun and Earth, is quite unusual and is an ancient giant that formed during the first two billion years after the Big Bang, when our galaxy began to form. It’s a star.

It belongs to the family of galactic stellar halos, which move in the opposite direction to the stars in the galactic disk.

Its orbit indicates that the star was probably part of a small galaxy, or globular cluster, that was swallowed up by the Milky Way more than 8 billion years ago.

This companion star contains almost no elements heavier than hydrogen or helium, indicating that the massive star that became Gaia BH3 may also have been extremely poor in heavy elements.

For the first time, the theory that the massive black holes observed in gravitational wave experiments were created by the collapse of primordial massive stars lacking heavy elements has been confirmed.

These early stars may have evolved differently from the massive stars we see in our galaxy today.

The composition of the companion star can also reveal the formation mechanism of this surprising binary system.

“We were surprised that the chemical composition of the companion star is similar to that seen in older, metal-poor stars in the Milky Way,” said Dr. Elisabetta Cuffo, an astronomer at the CNRS and the Paris Observatory.

“There is no evidence that this star was contaminated by material ejected from the supernova explosion of the massive star that became BH3.”

“This may suggest that the black hole acquired a mate from another star system for the first time after its birth.”

of the team paper be published in a magazine astronomy and astrophysics.

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P. Panuzzo other. (Gaia collaboration). 2024. Gaia astronomical measurements prior to release discovered a dormant black hole with the mass of 33 solar masses. A&A, in press. doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202449763

Source: www.sci.news

Research shows that binary star systems contain a higher number of habitable exoplanets than previously thought

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In a new study, astronomers from Yale University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology examined the coupled distribution of spin and orbital orbits of exoplanets in binary and triple star systems.

An artist's impression of a giant exoplanet and its two parent stars. Image credit: Sci.News.

An important subset of all known exoplanet systems include host stars with one or more bound stellar companions.

These multistar systems can span a vast range of relative configurations and provide rich insights into the processes by which stars and planets form.

“We showed for the first time that a system where everything is coordinated stacks up unexpectedly,” he said. Dr. Malena Ricean astronomer at Yale University.

“The planet orbits in exactly the same direction as the first star rotates, and the second star orbits its system in the same plane as the planet.”

Dr. Rice and his colleagues used a variety of sources, including the Gaia DR3 catalog of high-precision stellar astronomical measurements, the planetary system composite parameter table from the NASA Exoplanet Archive, and the TEPCat catalog of spin-orbit angle measurements of exoplanets. to create a 3D geometric shape. Number of planets in a binary star system.

Astronomers found that nine of the 40 star systems they studied were in “perfect” locations.

“This could indicate that planetary systems prefer to move toward ordered configurations,” Rice said.

“This is also good news for life forming in these systems.”

“A star's companion star with a different alignment can wreak havoc on a planetary system, overturning the planet or flash-heating the planet over time.”

“And what would the world look like on a warmer Tatooine?”

“During some seasons of the year, there would be continuous daylight, and one star would illuminate one side of the Earth, and another star would illuminate the other side.”

“But that sun's light isn't always scorching, because one of the stars is farther away.”

“At other times of the year, both stars will illuminate the same side of the Earth, and one star will appear much larger than the other.”

of study will be published in astronomy magazine.

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Malena Rice other. 2024. Orbital geometry and stellar inclination of multistar systems hosting exoplanets. A.J., in press. arXiv: 2401.04173

Source: www.sci.news

Binary System of Free-Floating Planet-Mass Objects Discovered by Astronomers

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The JuMBO 24 binary system resides in the Orion Nebula, a diffuse nebula located approximately 1,350 light-years away in the constellation Orion.

Free-floating Jupiter-mass binary objects are common, even if current stellar and planetary theory cannot explain their existence. Image credit: Gemini Observatory / Jon Lomberg.

Professor Luis Rodriguez of the National Autonomous University of Mexico and his colleagues said, “Near-infrared surveys of the interior of the Orion Nebula and the Trapezoid Cluster using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) revealed 40 Jupiter-mass binary objects (JuMBOs) and 2 triple objects. were detected.” .

“These systems are not associated with stars, their component masses range from 0.6 to 14 times the mass of Jupiter, and their distances in the plane of the sky range from 28 to 384 AU. It’s between.”

“The existence of these widespread binaries is surprising because our current knowledge of star and planet formation cannot explain them.”

Using NSF's Carl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), astronomers searched for the equivalent of 40 JuMBOs.

Surprisingly, only one of these objects, JuMBO 24, displayed a radio.

The radio brightness of the two planetary mass objects in this system is significantly higher than that detected in the brown dwarf.

This anomaly raises new questions and provides exciting research opportunities to further understand the nature of these free-floating planets.

While it's possible that the link between the infrared and radio signals is a coincidence, the researchers believe this is extremely unlikely, only 1 in 10,000.

“What's really remarkable is that these objects may have moons similar to Europa and Enceladus, both of which have underground oceans of liquid water that can support life,” Professor Rodriguez said. Told.

“The detection of radio waves emanating from both components of a dual system of free-floating planets represents an important milestone in our space exploration.”

“It also provides an exciting opportunity for further research into the potential habitability of planets beyond our solar system.”

of study Published in Astrophysics Journal Letter.

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Luis F. Rodriguez other. 2024. The radio counterpart of the Jupiter-mass binary object in Orion. APJL 960, L14; doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/ad18ac

Source: www.sci.news