Two young stars, 28 AU apart, are warping their planet-forming disks into a cosmic pretzel.
Key Takeaways:
- Astronomers imaged two baby stars twisting their planet-forming disks into a pretzel-like shape.
- These stars, locked in a binary system, provide new insights into how such systems evolve.
- The disks, similar in size to our asteroid belt, contain enough dust to form rocky planets.
- ALMA’s observations confirm theories about how binary stars interact with their birth disks.
- Scientists plan to study more young binary systems to refine models of star and planet formation.
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Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have captured a striking image of two young stars locked in a gravitational embrace, distorting their planet-forming disks into a twisted, pretzel-like shape. This discovery provides valuable insight into how binary star systems—and their potential planets—form and evolve.
A Twisted Beginning for a Binary System
The study, led by Felipe Alves of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE), reveals two compact circumstellar disks surrounding the young stars. These disks, which are similar in size to the asteroid belt in our solar system, are separated by 28 astronomical units (AU)—roughly 28 times the distance between the Earth and the Sun. Together, they contain around 260 Earth-masses of dust, which suggests the system could eventually form rocky planets.
Because most stars in the universe exist in binary systems, studying their formation is crucial. “This is a really important result,” said Paola Caselli, co-author and MPE managing director. The imaging of these disks, along with the feeding filaments connecting them to their larger birth disk, offers crucial constraints for star formation models.
Unlocking the Secrets of Binary Star Evolution
The observations closely align with theoretical predictions, suggesting that binary stars and their surrounding material interact in ways that influence planet formation. However, scientists stress that more young binary systems must be studied to refine our understanding of multiple-star formation. “While the good agreement of these observations with theory is already very promising, we will need to study more young binary systems in detail,” Alves explained.
With ongoing advancements in astronomical imaging, discoveries like this will continue to shed light on the early stages of star and planet formation, helping scientists piece together the complex cosmic processes that shape our universe.
The research was published in the journal Science.
