Triple Star System Discovery Changes Everything We Know About Stellar Evolution

A fresh discovery about triple star systems has the potential to change our understanding of stellar evolution. Scientists from the University of Leeds suggest that massive "Be Stars" that we're previously assumed to exist only in double star systems might actually be part of triple star systems. With this finding, scientists now have a deeper understanding of these massive celestial objects that can help us get a better idea of how stars evolve in space.

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What understanding is being challenged?

"Be Stars" are a specific type of B Stars that are usually surrounded by a gas disc - similar to Saturn's rings in our solar system. Their presence was first documented about 150 years ago, with the work of Italian astronomer Angelo Secchi in 1866. Such gas discs have remained elusive to scientists for quite some time, but astronomers eventually said that the rapid rotation of Be Stars, often caused by interactions with another star in a binary system, led to the creation of these discs.

Now, University of Leeds astronomers say that Be Stars may actually be part of triple star systems involving the interaction of three celestial bodies with each other instead of just two. To reach this conclusion, scientists analysed data from the European Space Agency's Gaia satellite.

What do scientists say?

"We observed the way the stars move across the night sky, over longer periods like 10 years, and shorter periods of around six months," said study author Jonathan Dodd, PhD student at the university¡¯s School of Physics and Astronomy, in a university release. "If a star moves in a straight line, we know there¡¯s just one star, but if there is more than one, we will see a slight wobble or, in the best case, a spiral," Dodd added.

Initial findings indicated that Be Stars had fewer companion stars compared to regular B stars. "This is interesting because we¡¯d expect them to have a higher rate," said Dodd.

"The fact that we do not see them might be because they are now too faint to be detected,¡± explained study's principal author Ren¨¦ Oudmaijer, professor at the university¡¯s School of Physics and Astronomy.

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Researchers shifted their attention and found that the rate of companion stars was quite similar between B Stars and Be Stars. Based on this, they inferred that in many instances, a third star may be involved, causing the companion to move closer to the Be Star. Owing to this proximity, transfer of mass from one star to the other may be noted, leading to the creation of the elusive gas disc around the Be Star.

Scientists think that this phenomenon is also able to explain why these companions become undetectable over time, having become small and faint after being "drained" by the Be Star.

How did our knowledge change?

Astronomers claim that this finding could have a significant impact on our understanding of astronomy, especially black holes, neutron stars, and sources of gravitational waves.

"There¡¯s a revolution going on in physics at the moment around gravitational waves. We have only been observing these gravitational waves for a few years now, and these have been found to be due to merging black holes," said Oudmaijer.

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"We know that these enigmatic objects ¨C black holes and neutron stars ¨C exist, but we don¡¯t know much about the stars that would become them. Our findings provide a clue to understanding these gravitational wave sources."

"Over the last decade or so, astronomers have found that binarity is an incredibly important element in stellar evolution. We are now moving more towards the idea it is even more complex than that and that triple stars need to be considered. Indeed, triples have become the new binaries," Oudmaijer concluded.

The study was published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. What do you think about this discovery? Let us know in the comments below. For more in the world of technology and science, keep reading Indiatimes.com and click here for our how-to guides.