Giant stars undergo dramatic weight loss program
Astronomers at the University of Sydney have found a slimmer type of red giant star for the first time. These stars have undergone dramatic weight loss, possibly due to the presence a greedy neighbour. Published in, the discovery is an important step forward to understanding the life of stars in the Milky Way -- our closest stellar neighbours.
How and why did they slim down? Most stars in the sky are in binary systems -- two stars that are gravitationally bound to each other. When the stars in close binaries expand, as stars do as they age, some material can reach the gravitational sphere of their companion and be sucked away."In the case of relatively tiny red giants, we think a companion could possibly be present," Mr Li said.The team analysed archival data from NASA's Kepler space telescope.
Only seven such underluminous stars were found, and the authors suspect many more are hiding in the sample."The problem is that most of them are very good at blending in. It was a real treasure hunt to find them," Dr Murphy said.
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