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Thursday, June 29, 2023

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

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #BinaryStars #RAquarii #StarSystem #WhiteDwarf #RedGiant #Aquarius #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #VLT #SPHERE #ZIMPOL #Chile #SouthAmerica #Europe #STEM #Education

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