caltech | Sun-like Stars Orbiting Hidden Companions @caltech | Uploaded 2 months ago | Updated 1 day ago
Astronomers have discovered 21 stars like our Sun in orbit around neutron starsheavy, compact remains of massive stars that previously exploded. The hidden neutron stars were discovered through their gravitational effects alone. Though the neutron stars are more massive than Sun-like stars, the two objects mutually orbit one another around a common center of mass. As the neutron stars orbit around, they tug on the Sun-like stars, causing them to wobble. The European Space Agency's Gaia mission detected this wobble by observing the orbits of the Sun-like stars (yellow dots) over a period of three years. The Sun-like stars are green in this animation, and the neutron stars (and their orbits) are purple.
Image credit: Caltech/Kareem El-Badry
more info: https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/sun-like-stars-found-orbiting-hidden-companions
Astronomers have discovered 21 stars like our Sun in orbit around neutron starsheavy, compact remains of massive stars that previously exploded. The hidden neutron stars were discovered through their gravitational effects alone. Though the neutron stars are more massive than Sun-like stars, the two objects mutually orbit one another around a common center of mass. As the neutron stars orbit around, they tug on the Sun-like stars, causing them to wobble. The European Space Agency's Gaia mission detected this wobble by observing the orbits of the Sun-like stars (yellow dots) over a period of three years. The Sun-like stars are green in this animation, and the neutron stars (and their orbits) are purple.
Image credit: Caltech/Kareem El-Badry
more info: https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/sun-like-stars-found-orbiting-hidden-companions
