{"id":26693,"date":"2024-04-11T14:00:39","date_gmt":"2024-04-11T18:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=26693"},"modified":"2024-04-10T16:35:47","modified_gmt":"2024-04-10T20:35:47","slug":"eso-merger-of-2-stars-creates-a-magnetic-star-and-a-nebula","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=26693","title":{"rendered":"ESO: Merger of 2 stars creates a magnetic star and a nebula"},"content":{"rendered":"

The latest report from the European Southern Observatory (ESO<\/a>):<\/p>\n

Beautiful nebula, violent history:
\nclash of stars solves stellar mystery<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
This image, taken with the VLT Survey Telescope hosted at ESO\u2019s Paranal Observatory, shows the beautiful nebula NGC 6164\/6165, also known as the Dragon\u2019s Egg. The nebula is a cloud of gas and dust surrounding a pair of stars called HD 148937. In a new study using ESO data, astronomers have shown that the two stars are unusually different from each other \u2014 one appears much younger and, unlike the other, is magnetic. Moreover, the nebula is significantly younger than either star at its heart, and is made up of gases normally found deep within a star and not on the outside. These clues together helped solve the mystery of the HD 148937 system \u2014 there were most likely three stars in the system until two of them clashed and merged, creating a new, larger and magnetic star. This violent event also created the spectacular nebula that now surrounds the remaining stars.
Credit: ESO\/VPHAS+ team. Acknowledgement: CASU<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When astronomers looked at a stellar pair at the heart of a stunning cloud of gas and dust, they were in for a surprise. Star pairs are typically very similar, like twins, but in HD 148937, one star appears younger and, unlike the other, is magnetic. New data from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) suggest there were originally three stars in the system, until two of them clashed and merged. This violent event created the surrounding cloud and forever altered the system\u2019s fate.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen doing background reading, I was struck by how special this system seemed,\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

says Abigail Frost, an astronomer at ESO in Chile and lead author of the study published today in Science<\/em>. The system, HD 148937, is located about 3800 light-years away from Earth in the direction of the Norma constellation. It is made up of two stars much more massive than the Sun and surrounded by a beautiful nebula, a cloud of gas and dust.<\/p>\n

\u201cA nebula surrounding two massive stars is a rarity, and it really made us feel like something cool had to have happened in this system. When looking at the data, the coolness only increased.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n