{"id":17096,"date":"2018-11-19T11:00:57","date_gmt":"2018-11-19T16:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=17096"},"modified":"2018-11-17T12:27:12","modified_gmt":"2018-11-17T17:27:12","slug":"eso-swirling-triple-star-system-may-generate-a-gamma-ray-burst","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=17096","title":{"rendered":"ESO: Swirling triple star system may generate a gamma-ray burst"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Cosmic Serpent<\/a><\/strong>
\nESO\u2019s VLT captures details of an elaborate serpentine system <\/em>
\nsculpted by colliding stellar winds<\/em><\/p>\n

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 Egyptian deity, this may be the first ever gamma-ray burst progenitor found.<\/p>\n

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The VISIR instrument on ESO\u2019s VLT captured this stunning image of a newly-discovered massive binary star system. Nicknamed Apep after an ancient Egyptian deity, it could be the first gamma-ray burst progenitor to be found in our galaxy. Apep\u2019s stellar winds have created the dust cloud surrounding the system, which consists of a binary star with a fainter companion. With 2 Wolf-Rayet stars orbiting each other in the binary, the serpentine swirls surrounding Apep are formed by the collision of two sets of powerful stellar winds, which create the spectacular dust plumes seen in the image. The reddish pinwheel in this image is data from the VISIR instrument on ESO\u2019s Very Large Telescope (VLT), and shows the spectacular plumes of dust surrounding Apep. The blue sources at the centre of the image are a triple star system \u2014 which consists of a binary star system and a companion single star bound together by gravity. Though only two star-like objects are visible in the image, the lower source is in fact an unresolved binary Wolf-Rayet star. The triple star system was captured by the NACO adaptive optics instrument on the VLT. [Higher-res image files<\/a>]
<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>This serpentine swirl, captured by the VISIR<\/a> instrument on ESO\u2019s Very Large Telescope<\/a> (VLT), has an explosive future ahead of it; it is a Wolf-Rayet star<\/a> system, and a likely source of one of the most energetic phenomena in the Universe \u2014 a long-duration gamma-ray burst<\/a> (GRB).<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the first such system to be discovered in our own galaxy<\/em>,\u201d explains Joseph Callingham of the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON<\/a>), lead author of the study reporting this system. \u201cWe never expected to find such a system in our own backyard<\/em>\u201d [1]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The system, which comprises a nest of massive stars surrounded by a \u201cpinwheel\u201d of dust, is \u00a0officially known only by unwieldy catalogue references like 2XMM J160050.7-514245. However, the astronomers chose to give this fascinating object a catchier moniker \u2014 \u201cApep\u201d.<\/p>\n