The picture shows for the very first time a well defined ring stretching from both stars, one of which is a red giant.
Similar disks are noticed in young stellar systems. But astronomers were uncertain how or the reason why they form around stars that were old. It is not impossible the material is blown from the star’s outer layers and can in fact give rise to another generation of planets. Some answers may be provided through examining this new system.
We were also surprised to discover a fainter luminescence that’s likely coming from a modest accretion disk round the companion star,
lead writer Michel Hillen said in a statement.
We understood the star was twice but were not expecting to see the company directly. It’s truly thanks to the leap in functionality now given by the newest sensor in PIONIER, that we have been in a position to see the inner areas of the distant system.
As they go through the red giant phase, stars lose a large amount of mass. The substance sculpted forming disks that resemble and is pushed away. There are not many nearby old stars with this kind of disk, which means this observation allows researchers to better comprehend the differences involving the disk formed in first and by the end of the cycle.
Our observations and modelling open a fresh window to examine the physics of the disks, in addition to stellar development in double stars,” concluded Van Winckel. “For the very first time the complicated interactions between close binary systems as well as their dusty surroundings are now able to be concluded in space and time.”