BHB2007: A Baby Binary Star in Formation
Explanation:
How do binary stars form?
To help find out,
ESO's
Atacama Large Millimeter Array
(ALMA)
recently captured one of the highest resolution images yet taken of a binary star
system in formation.
Most stars
are not alone -- they typically form as part of a multiple star systems where star
each orbits a common center of gravity.
The two bright spots in the
featured image are small disks that surround the forming proto-stars in [BHB2007]
11, while the surrounding pretzel-shaped filaments are gas and dust that have been
gravitationally pulled
from a larger disk.
The circumstellar filaments span roughly the radius of the orbit of
Neptune.
The
BHB2007 system
is a small part of the
Pipe Nebula (also known as
Barnard 59), a
photogenic network of
dust and gas that protrudes from
Milky Way's spiral disk in the
constellation of Ophiuchus.
The
binary star formation process should be complete
within a few million years.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
