Star System R Aquarii: Closeup of a Stellar Couple's Orbital 'Embrace' | ESO

Star System R Aquarii: Closeup of a Stellar Couple's Orbital 'Embrace' | ESO

This image is from the SPHERE/ZIMPOL observations of R Aquarii, and shows the binary star itself, as well as the jets of material spewing from the stellar couple. R Aquarii (R Aqr) is a variable star in the constellation Aquarius. R Aquarii is a symbiotic star believed to contain a white dwarf and a Mira-type variable in a binary system. The orbital period is approximately 44 years. The main Mira-type star is a red giant. This star system is located over 1,300 light years away from Earth.

While testing a new subsystem on the SPHERE planet-hunting instrument on the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers were able to capture dramatic details of the turbulent stellar relationship in the binary star R Aquarii with unprecedented clarity—even compared to observations from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/Schmid et al.

Release Date: Dec. 12, 2018

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