{"id":11599,"date":"2015-10-21T07:00:56","date_gmt":"2015-10-21T11:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=11599"},"modified":"2015-10-19T15:48:26","modified_gmt":"2015-10-19T19:48:26","slug":"eso-most-massive-and-hottest-touching-star-pair-found-by-the-vlt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=11599","title":{"rendered":"ESO: Most massive and hottest touching star pair found by the VLT"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new report from ESO<\/a>\u00a0(European Southern Observatory):<\/p>\n

Final Kiss of Two Stars Heading for Catastrophe<\/a>
\n<\/strong>VLT finds hottest and most massive touching double star<\/em><\/p>\n

\"This<\/a>
This artist\u2019s impression<\/a> shows VFTS 352 \u2014 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.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Using ESO\u2019s Very Large Telescope, an international team of astronomers have found the hottest and most massive double star with components so close that they touch each other. The two 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.<\/p>\n

The double star system VFTS 352 is located about 160 000 light-years away in the Tarantula Nebula<\/a> [1]<\/a>. This remarkable region is the most active nursery of new stars in the nearby Universe and new observations from ESO\u2019s VLT [2]<\/a> have revealed that this pair of young stars is among the most extreme and strangest yet found.<\/p>\n

\"This<\/a>
This image<\/a> shows the location of VFTS 352 \u2014 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 merging to form a single giant star or forming a binary black hole. This view of the Tarantula star-forming region includes visible-light images from the Wide Field Imager at the MPG\/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at La Silla and infrared images from the 4.1-metre infrared VISTA telescope at Paranal.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

VFTS 352 is composed of two very hot, bright and massive stars that orbit each other in little more than a day. The centres of the stars are separated by just 12 million kilometres [3]<\/a>. In fact, the stars are so close that their surfaces overlap and a bridge has formed between them. VFTS 352 is not only the most massive known in this tiny class of \u201covercontact binaries<\/a>\u201d \u2014 it has a combined mass of about 57 times that of the Sun \u2014 but it also contains the hottest components \u2014 with surface temperatures above 40 000 degrees Celsius.<\/p>\n

Extreme stars like the two components of VFTS 352, play a key role in the evolution of galaxies and are thought to be the main producers of elements such as oxygen. Such double stars are also linked to exotic behaviour such as that shown by \u201cvampire stars\u201d, where a smaller companion star sucks matter from the surface of its larger neighbour (eso1230<\/a>).<\/p>\n

http:\/\/cdn.eso.org\/videos\/medium_podcast\/eso1540a.m4v<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

This animated artist\u2019s impression shows VFTS 352 \u2014 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 pair could be heading for a dramatic end, either with the creation of a single monster star or the formation of a binary black hole.\u00a0Credit:\u00a0<\/strong>ESO\/L. Cal\u00e7ada<\/em><\/p>\n

In the case of VFTS 352, however, both stars in the system are of almost identical size. Material is, therefore, not sucked from one to another, but instead may be shared [4]<\/a>. The component stars of VFTS 352 are estimated to be sharing about 30 per cent of their material.<\/p>\n

Such a system is very rare because this phase in the life of the stars is short, making it difficult to catch them in the act. Because the stars are so close together, astronomers think that strong tidal forces lead to enhanced mixing of the material in the stellar interiors.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/cdn.eso.org\/videos\/medium_podcast\/eso1540b.m4v<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

This zoom sequence starts with a broad panorama of the southern night sky and closes in on the Tarantula star-forming region in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Among the many hot young stars here lies VFTS 352 \u2014 the hottest and most massive double star system to date where the two components are in contact and sharing material. The final frames show a close-up of the region of this exotic object, in an image created from images from the Wide Field Imager at the MPG\/ESO 2.2-metre telescope<\/a> at La Silla<\/a>.\u00a0Credit:\u00a0<\/strong>Credit: ESO\/N. Risinger (skysurvey.org<\/a>)\/R. Gendler\u00a0Music Johan B Monell<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe VFTS 352 is the best case yet found for a hot and massive double star that may show this kind of internal mixing<\/em>,\u201d explains lead author Leonardo A. Almeida of the University of S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil. \u201cAs such it\u2019s a fascinating and important discovery<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Astronomers predict that VFTS 352 will face a cataclysmic fate in one of two ways. The first potential outcome is the merging of the two stars, which would likely produce a rapidly rotating, and possibly magnetic, gigantic single star. \u201cIf it keeps spinning rapidly it might end its life in one of the most energetic explosions in the Universe, known as a long-duration gamma-ray burst,<\/em>\u201d says the lead scientist of the project, Hugues Sana, of the University of Leuven in Belgium [5]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The second possibility is explained by the lead theoretical astrophysicist in the team, Selma de Mink of University of Amsterdam: \u201cIf the stars are mixed well enough, they both remain compact and the VFTS 352 system may avoid merging. This would lead the objects down a new evolutionary path that is completely different from classic stellar evolution predictions. In the case of VFTS 352, the components would likely end their lives in supernova explosions, forming a close binary system of black holes. Such a remarkable object would be an intense source of gravitational waves.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Proving the existence of this second evolutionary path [6]<\/a> would be an observational breakthrough in the field of stellar astrophysics. But, regardless of how VFTS 352 meets its demise, this system has already provided astronomers with valuable new insights into the poorly understood evolutionary processes of massive overcontact binary star systems.<\/p>\n

Notes<\/h3>\n

<\/a>[1] This star\u2019s name indicates that it was observed as part of the VLT FLAMES Tarantula Survey<\/a>, which utilised the FLAMES<\/a>\u00a0and GIRAFFE<\/a> instruments on ESO\u2019s Very Large Telescope (VLT)<\/a> to study over 900 stars in the 30 Doradus region<\/a> of theLarge Magellanic Cloud (LMC)<\/a>. The survey has already led to many exciting and important findings including the fastest rotating star (eso1147<\/a>), and an extremely massive solitary runaway star (eso1117<\/a>). It is helping to answer many fundamental questions concerning how massive stars are affected by rotation, binarity and the dynamics in dense star clusters.<\/p>\n

<\/a>[2] This study also used brightness measurements of VFTS 352 over a period of twelve years made as part of the OGLE<\/a>\u00a0survey.<\/p>\n

<\/a>[3] Both components are classed as O-type stars<\/a>. Such stars are typically between 15 and 80 times more massive than the Sun and can be up to a million times brighter. They are so hot that they shine with a brilliant blue-white light and have surface temperatures over 30 000 degrees Celsius.<\/p>\n

<\/a>[4] These regions around the stars are known as Roche lobes<\/a>. In an overcontact binary such as VFTS 352 both stars overfill their Roche lobes.<\/p>\n

<\/a>[5] Gamma-ray Bursts<\/a> (GRBs) are bursts of highly energetic gamma rays that are detected by orbiting satellites. They come in two types \u2014 short duration (shorter than a few seconds), and long duration (longer than a few seconds). Long-duration GRBs are more common and are thought to mark the deaths of massive stars and be associated with a class of very energetic supernova explosions.<\/p>\n

<\/a>[6] Predicted by Einstein\u2019s theory of general relativity<\/a>, gravitational waves are ripples in the fabric of space and time. Significant gravitational waves are generated whenever there are extreme variations of strong gravitational fields with time, such as during the merger of two black holes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new report from ESO\u00a0(European Southern Observatory): Final Kiss of Two Stars Heading for Catastrophe VLT finds hottest and most massive touching double star Using ESO\u2019s Very Large Telescope, an international team of astronomers have found the hottest and most massive double star with components so close that they touch each other. The two stars … Continue reading ESO: Most massive and hottest touching star pair found by the VLT<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-astronomy"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p34aWK-315","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":24731,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=24731","url_meta":{"origin":11599,"position":0},"title":"ESO: VLT spots planet orbiting most massive star pair so far","author":"TopSpacer","date":"December 8, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The latest report from the European Southern Observatory (ESO): ESO telescope images planet around most massive star pair to date The European Southern Observatory\u2019s Very Large Telescope (ESO\u2019s VLT) has captured an image of a planet orbiting b Centauri, a two-star system that can be seen with the naked eye.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/eso2118c1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/eso2118c1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/eso2118c1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/eso2118c1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":22098,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=22098","url_meta":{"origin":11599,"position":1},"title":"ESO: Massive star vanishes from view","author":"TopSpacer","date":"June 30, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The latest report from the European Southern Observatory (ESO): A Cosmic Mystery: ESO Telescope Captures the Disappearance of a Massive Star Using the European Southern Observatory\u2019s Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have discovered the absence of an unstable massive star in a dwarf galaxy. Scientists think this could indicate that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/eso2010a1-500x281.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":17096,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=17096","url_meta":{"origin":11599,"position":2},"title":"ESO: Swirling triple star system may generate a gamma-ray burst","author":"TopSpacer","date":"November 19, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"A new report from ESO (European Southern Observatory): Cosmic Serpent ESO\u2019s VLT captures details of an elaborate serpentine system sculpted by colliding stellar winds The VISIR instrument on ESO\u2019s Very Large Telescope has captured this stunning image of a newly discovered massive triple star system. Nicknamed Apep after an ancient\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/eso1838a1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13016,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=13016","url_meta":{"origin":11599,"position":3},"title":"ESO: Can zoom in on young stars with 615 megapixel image of Sagittarius","author":"TopSpacer","date":"August 10, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The latest ESO (European Southern Observatory) report: Stellar Lab in Sagittarius\u00a0 The small smattering of bright blue stars in the upper left of this vast new 615 megapixel ESO image is the perfect cosmic laboratory in which to study the life and death of stars. Known as Messier 18 this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"The small smattering of bright blue stars upper left of centre in this huge 615 megapixel ESO image is the perfect cosmic laboratory in which to study the life and death of stars. Known as Messier 18 this open star cluster contains stars that formed together from the same massive cloud of gas and dust. This image was captured by the OmegaCAM camera attached to the VLT Survey Telescope (VST) located at ESO\u2019s Paranal Observatory in Chile.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/eso1628a1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":26720,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=26720","url_meta":{"origin":11599,"position":4},"title":"ESO: Most massive stellar black hole in the Milky Way discovered","author":"TopSpacer","date":"April 16, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"A new report from the European Southern Observatory (ESO): Most massive stellar black hole in our galaxy found Astronomers have identified the most massive stellar black hole yet discovered in the Milky Way galaxy. This black hole was spotted in data from the European Space Agency\u2019s Gaia mission because it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/eso2408a_1000x688-500x344.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":25444,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=25444","url_meta":{"origin":11599,"position":5},"title":"ESO: VLT captures the vast cloudy remains of the Vela supernova remnant","author":"TopSpacer","date":"October 31, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"A report for the Halloween season from the European Southern Observatory (ESO): ESO captures the ghost of a giant star A spooky spider web, magical dragons or wispy trails of ghosts? What do you see in this image of the Vela supernova remnant? This beautiful tapestry of colours shows the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/eso2214a1-1-500x500.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11599"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11599\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11602,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11599\/revisions\/11602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}