Astronomers spot a strange trio of stars thanks to NASA’s TEES
Recently, astronomers fromNiels Bohr Institute discovered a system of three strangely organized stars orbiting the Earth. According to their research, the trio of stars would have unique characteristics never observed elsewhere before.
The researchers have therefore made various assumptions to explain the strange phenomena noted at the level of the three stars. According to one of the theories advanced, the system would have been composed of more stars than it has today. Therefore, the astronomers deduced that this decrease could be due to the gravitational force of the system himself.
This discovery was made thanks to Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TEES), a NASA telescope. The results of the research appear in the journal LiveScience.
The trio of stars characterized by a strange organization
The trio named ICT 470710327 is organized hierarchically, with a third star orbiting the central pair of binary stars. Thus, by its size and shape, the system differs from all other known tertiary bodies. The set formed by the system is much more compact, because the stars there all have greater gravitational forces than usual.
Furthermore, these stars are significantly more massive than ordinary stars seen in a tertiary system. Finally, the system’s tertiary star has a circular inner path and has a mass about 16 times that of our star. It makes about six rotations twice a year.
“We are aware of several Tertiary stellar bodies. However, we noticed that they are much less imposing in size than this one. The stars making up this system have a mutual proximity never before observed elsewhere. »
Alejandro Vigna-Gomez, astronomer and post-doctoral student
A speculation on the birth of the star system
According to the researchers, it is possible that the stellar triplets once had a fourth sibling before one of the others devours him. Such a supposition is possible since the strange trio of stars is considerably more massive and tighter than a conventional triple system.
“The strange architecture of this star system has never been observed before. Everything suggests that there would have been a fourth star. »
Alejandro Vigna-Gomez, astronomer and post-doctoral student
Note that astronomers have been able to determine that this system is in orbit around the Earth.
SOURCE: SCIENCETIMES
