Secondary components of W UMa-type contact binaries exhibit an excess in radius and luminosity. Based on these two properties, Ph.D. student ZHANG Xudong, Prof. QIAN Shengbang, and Dr. LIAO Wenping from Yunnan Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences revealed the different evolutionary pathways for A- and W-subtype contact binaries. Overluminosity in the A subtype is because the secondary components evolved…
Tag: massive stars
On the origin of massive stars
This scene of stellar creation, captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, sits near the outskirts of the famous Tarantula Nebula. This cloud of gas and dust, as well as the many young and massive stars surrounding it, is the perfect laboratory to study the origin of massive stars. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-03-massive-stars.html…
A new theory of magnetar formation
Magnetars are neutron stars endowed with the strongest magnetic fields observed in the universe, but their origin remains controversial. In a study published in Science Advances, a team of scientists from CEA, Saclay, the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics (MPA), and the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris developed a new and unprecedentedly detailed computer model that can explain the…
Massive protostar keeps growing despite ionization heating by ultraviolet light
A gigantic embryonic star is still getting bigger, even though it propels vast plumes of hot gas away from itself, RIKEN astronomers have found. The discovery could help to solve an enduring mystery about how massive stars grow so large. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-02-massive-protostar-ionization-ultraviolet.html…
Procyon is the Little Dog Star
The Dog Star, Sirius, is easy to spot because it’s the sky’s brightest star. Procyon – the other Dog Star – is near its brighter brother on the sky’s dome. Source: https://earthsky.org/brightest-stars/procyon-harbringer-of-the-dog-star…
Tarantula Nebula seen through the eyes of Spitzer
Stunning new Spitzer Space Telescope image of the Tarantula Nebula in the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud dwarf galaxy. Spitzer ended its 16-year mission on January 30. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/tarantula-nebula-spitzer-telescope-image…
Stellar black holes: When David poses as Goliath
Stellar black holes form when massive stars end their life in a dramatic collapse. Observations have shown that stellar black holes typically have masses of about ten times that of the Sun, in accordance with the theory of stellar evolution. Recently, a Chinese team of astronomers claimed to have discovered a black hole as massive as 70 solar masses, which, if…
These 2 stars in Sagitta will merge and explode by this century’s end
When the 2 stars in the binary star system V Sagittae come together – around the year 2083, astronomers say – they’ll create a star explosion called a nova. Then V Sagittae will temporarily outshine all the stars in our Milky Way galaxy. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/v-sagittae-to-go-nova-around-2083…
New view of Milky Way’s center
The SOFIA flying telescope has captured a new panoramic image of the center of our home galaxy, the Milky Way. The image shows a region more than 600 light-years across, revealing unprecedented details within the center’s dense swirls of gas and dust. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/new-image-milky-way-center-sofia-video…
An ancient star burst in the Milky Way’s center
New observations reveal that – about a billion years ago – the center of our Milky Way galaxy underwent a period of intense star formation, resulting in over 100,000 supernovae. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/milky-way-center-star-formation-burst-100000-supernova…