Novel Nova: Stellar Blast Powered by Helium May Leave a Tantalizing Remnant Nov 21, 2009
Helium novae are thought to arise from a binary star system in which one member is a hydrogen-depleted star, which relies mostly on helium to generate light, and one is a white dwarf, an ultradense remnant of an exhausted star ... One consideration making helium novae more than just an astronomical curiosity is anomalously young binary star systems that yield type Ia supernovae. (Scientific American)
This Week's Sky at a Glance Nov 19, 2009
The unique eclipsing binary star Epsilon Aurigae is now dimming into one of its 2-year-long partial eclipses, which come every 27. 1 years. (SkyAndTelescope.com)
Rapid Supernova: New Class Of Exploding Star? Nov 6, 2009
6, 2009) An unusual supernova rediscovered in seven-year-old data may be the first example of a new type of exploding star, possibly from a binary star system where helium flows from one white dwarf onto another and detonates in a thermonuclear explosion. See also. (Science Daily)
Strange creatures rule October skies Oct 4, 2009
Today we know Algol to be an eclipsing binary star system. A smaller, dim companion to Algol passes in front of the brighter star every 3. (Casper Star-Tribune, WY)
Twin Keck Telescopes Probe Dual Dust Disks Sep 25, 2009
Astronomers observed that a protoplanetary disk, or ring, around the binary star known as KH. (July 2, 2009) Astronomers have found a binary star-disk system in which each star is surrounded by the kind of dust disk that is frequently the precursor of a planetary. (Science Daily)
Longstanding Mystery Of Tipped Stars Solved Sep 18, 2009
Both of them, it turns out, are rotating tipped over on their sides, relative to the plane of their orbits around each other, instead of straight upright like most binary stars ... "Everyone always assumed that planets orbit in the same plane as their star's rotation," until some recent discoveries of exceptions to that rule, "and that binary stars are aligned. These assumptions are just not true." ... The assumption has been that binary stars should always have their spin axes aligned, because... (Science Daily)
> read more Sep 17, 2009
On the surface, this binary star seems pretty much like any other binary star, with two stars going 'round and 'round each other in a predictable, orderly fashion ... The binary star DI Herculis consists of two B stars separated by about one-fifth the Earth-Sun distance ... With more modern equipment, computers, and techniques, Albrecht revealed that the rotation axes of the two stars are tipped over on their sides with respect to the orbital plane (similar to Uranus's orientation with respect... (SkyAndTelescope.com)
Fermi Large Area Telescope Reveals Pulsing Gamma-ray Sources Sep 10, 2009
A wide variety of astrophysical phenomena, such as pulsars, active galactic nuclei, gamma-ray bursts and some binary star systems are known to produce photons exceeding many MeVs. "The Fermi LAT makes it possible for us to pinpoint neutron stars," said Eric Grove, astrophysicist and LAT Commissioner, NRL Space Science Division. (Science Daily)
Violent Youth Of Solar Proxies Steers Life Aug 11, 2009
They determined the spin and orbital periods of the binary star Paloma. They. (Science Daily)
Planet-Hunting Spacecraft Shows Its Stuff by Detecting a Known Exoplanet Aug 7, 2009
(As Koch points out, a star's periodic dimming can be explained by one star eclipsing another in a binary star system. Koch says he expects the first large exoplanets discovered by Kepler to begin rolling out early next year. (Scientific American)
SPACE PHOTOS THIS WEEK: Lightning, Star Twins, More Jul 15, 2009
Some of the universe's first stars might have been born as twins, according to a new study appearing in the journal Science, which shows how primordial clouds of gas could split into two dense stellar cores, like the ones seen above, and eventually form binary star systems. Image copyright Science/AAAS. (National Geographic)
The first stars came in pairs Jul 11, 2009
New and detailed computer simulations that describe how the very first stars in the Universe formed show that binary star systems were common occurrences just a few hundred million years after the big bang ... New and detailed computer simulations that describe how the very first stars in the Universe formed show that binary star systems were also common occurrences just a few hundred million years after the big bang too. (Astronomy Now Online)
Astronomers Discover Pair Of Solar Systems In The Making Jul 3, 2009
ScienceDaily (July 2, 2009) Two University of Hawai'i at M noa astronomers have found a binary star-disk system in which each star is surrounded by the kind of dust disk that is frequently the precursor of a planetary system ... A binary star system consists of two stars bound together by gravity that orbit a common center of gravity. (Science Daily)
Binary stars host potential planetary disk Jun 17, 2009
Giant planets, comets and Pluto-like bodies may form around binary star systems, not just single stars, a new study suggests. The evidence comes via a rotating, found orbiting the young binary star system V4046 Sagittarii with the Submillimeter Array's radio telescope system atop Mauna Kea, Hawaii ... Planets around binary stars have traditionally been difficult to detect because the added star complicates traditional planet-searching techniques. (MSNBC -- Technology)
Astronomers Pioneer New Method for Finding Exoplanets May 30, 2009
Given VB 10bs high mass and the host stars low mass (only about 8% that of the Sun, barely qualifying it for stardom), the system more closely resembles a very-low-mass binary star than a star-planet system. The planet probably formed from a collapsing gas cloud, like a star, rather than from the accretion of material inside a disk, like a planet. (SkyAndTelescope.com)
New light shed on pulsar puzzle May 22, 2009
Writing in the journal Science, a team has worked out how millisecond pulsars might evolve from a type of binary star system which spews out X-rays. The results show how old pulsars may start gathering matter from a companion star, emitting first X-rays and then radio pulses. (BBC News -- Science)
Understanding Stellar Explosions Is Less Straightforward Than Previously Thought May 14, 2009
25, 2008) The explosion of a binary star inside a planetary nebula has been captured -- an event that has not been witnessed for more than 100 years. The study predicts that the combined mass of the two stars. (Science Daily)
• COLUMN: Giant spots dim the light of this fast-spinning star May 7, 2009
Cor Caroli is actually a binary star. The brighter component is the prototype of a class of variable stars known as the Alpha-2 Canum Venaticorum stars. (Burley South Idaho Press, ID)
Spectacular Stellar Nursery Of Orion Apr 20, 2009
12, 2009) Astronomers have captured the sharpest image of the young binary star Theta1 Orionis C in the Orion Trapezium cluster. In the new image, obtained using the ESO/VLT interferometer, one clearly. (Science Daily)
High-resolution Image Of The Brightest Orion Trapezium Star Apr 13, 2009
The binary star Theta1 Ori C is the brightest of the four Trapezium stars in the Orion nebula. The Orion Trapezium cluster is the nearest region where massive stars are forming, located at about 1350 light-years from us. (Science Daily)
Sharpest image of Orion's binary star captured Apr 3, 2009
Astronomers obtain sharpest image of Orion's binary star_English_Xinhua. Astronomers obtain sharpest image of Orion's binary star ... WASHINGTON, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Astronomers have captured the sharpest image of a young binary star in the heart of Orion, in which one can clearly distinguish the two stars of the system. (Xinhuanet, China)
New EINSTEIN@HOME effort launched: home computers to search Arecibo data for new pulsars Mar 25, 2009
The discovery of new pulsars in much shorter-period binaries would improve estimates of the rates at which binary star systems form and disappear in our Galaxy, and also provide new targets to search for with gravitational wave detectors. The Arecibo Observatory is the largest single-aperture radio telescope on the planet and is used for studies of pulsars, galaxies, solar system objects, and the Earth's atmosphere. (EurekAlert! -- Business News)
