A flashing strange star in the center of of the Milky Way has attracted the attention of scientists
An artist's depiction of a massive star and a companion star wrapped in fragments can explain a strange observation of an object called VVV-WIT-08.
(Image source: Amanda Smith)
Astronomers are bluntly telling how observations bother them, which is always a good sign. Such a sceptical target object, discovered by an engineering called "VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea" (VVV) and, according to new research, appears to be the second of the same object scientists know, which seems particularly eye-catching. This is the conclusion of a group of scientists who discovered a bright star that almost disappeared before their eyes.
"Occasionally we find some variable star that does not fall into any given category, and we call it 'what is this?' or 'WIT object'," co-author Philip Lucas, an astronomer at the University of Hertford in the UK, said in a statement. "We really don't know how these blinking giants came about. After planning and collecting data for so many years, it's exciting to see these discoveries from the VVV project."
This team of astronomers focuses on observing a celestial object called VVV-WIT-08 because it was discovered during investigations. This strange sight is located in the center of the Milky Way, more than 25,000 light-years away from the Earth, and the researchers saw them not only through the VVV project, but also through the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE).
After the depth of measurement, scientists now suspect that the object is a massive star, 100 times larger than the sun, and it is periodically blocked by a smaller companion star surrounded by an opaque disk.
Scientists don't know what the smaller object is. "It's surprising that we just observed a dark, huge, slender object passing between us and this distant star, and we can only guess its origin." The observation of
VVV-WIT-08 marks the second time scientists have seen this special pattern; the brightness of a massive star called Otelle-ε will be halved every 27 years, because there will be a cloud of dust passing between the observer and the star. Another example is that it darkens every 69 years, and researchers studying VVV-WIT-08 have so far discovered two other such strange objects, which they call "flashing superstars."
This brings the total number of observed objects to 5, although scientists expect other objects to be detected.
"Of course there is more to be discovered, but the challenge now is to figure out what the hidden companion stars are and how they are surrounded by discs, despite their orbits so far from the superstar," Ray Smith, an astronomer at the University of Cambridge in the UK, said in a statement. "In doing so, we may learn a little about how such systems evolve."
Related knowledge
The sun is a star at the center of the solar system. It is a nearly perfectly rounded thermal plasma sphere, heated to incandescent reaction at its core, radiating energy mainly in the form of visible light, ultraviolet and infrared radiation. It is the most important source of energy for life on Earth.
号本 -ε is a multi-star system in the northern part of the constellation. This is an unusual solar eclipse binary system consisting of a F0 supergiant and a companion star, whose companion star is usually considered a huge dark disk orbiting an unknown object, possibly an binary system consisting of two small B-type stars . Distance to the system remains a controversial topic, but data from the Gaia spacecraft shows it is about 1350±300 light-years away from Earth.
号-ε is a multi- star system in the northern part of the constellation .This is an unusual solar eclipse binary system consisting of a F0 supergiant and a companion star, whose companion star is usually considered a huge dark disk orbiting an unknown object, possibly a binary system composed of two small B-class stars. Distance to the system remains a controversial topic, but data from the Gaia spacecraft shows it is about 1350±300 light-years away from Earth.
BY: Meghan Bartels
FY: Shark Pepper
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