Double Star Discovered, Possible Double Black Hole Ending
A massive double star was found by an international team of astronomers, who claimed that the stars are close enough to touch each other, according to a news release.
The astronomers discovered the double star by using European Southern Observatory (ESO) Very Large Telescope, and they were able to detect the massive double star's components. The stars were found in the double star system VFTS 352. They are about 160,000 light-years away from Earth, in the Tarantula Nebula, an extreme space region. This region is known as one of the most active nurseries of new stars in the Universe.
The astronomers claimed this pair of stars is the most extreme and strangest to be found. There could be a catastrophic ending, where the two stars could possibly merge to create a single star or form a binary black hole, according to the astronomers. The VFTS 352 comprises of two very hot and massive stars that orbit each other in less than a day's time, according to a news release.
"The VFTS 352 is the best case yet found for a hot and massive double star that may show this kind of internal mixing," said Leonardo A. Almeida, lead author of the study, from the University of Sao Paulo, in Brazil.
The centers of the stars are separated by 12 million kilometers. These types of stars play an essential role in the evolution of new galaxies. They are also classified as 'vampire stars', where the smaller star sucks matter from the surface of the other star.
Both of the stars were identical, according to the astronomers, thus neither of them is sucking matter from the other.
"If it keeps spinning rapidly it might end its life in one of the most energetic explosions in the Universe, known as a long-duration gamma-ray burst," said Hugues Sana, lead scientist of the project and from University of Leuven in Belgium.
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