Final Kiss of 2 Stars Heading for Catastrophe

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Final Kiss of Two Stars Heading for Catastrophe

Final Kiss of Two Stars Heading for Catastrophe

Using ESO’s Very Large Telescope, an international team of astronomers have found the hottest and most massive double star with components so close that they touch each other. The two stars in the extreme system VFTS 352 could be heading for a dramatic end, during which the two stars either coalesce to create a single giant star, or form a binary black hole.

The double star system VFTS 352 is located about 160 000 light-years away in the Tarantula Nebula. This remarkable region is the most active nursery of new stars in the nearby Universe and new observations from ESO’s VLT have revealed that this pair of young stars is among the most extreme and strangest yet found.

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[Sundew]

That's pretty cool. I wonder if they have calculated the mass of the stars and have theorized whether or not there is enough stellar material to form a black hole? Or do we even have an idea of how much mass is needed to create a black hole?

[Junior Chubb]

A pair of star-cross'd lovers...

[paperdyer]

A mini big bang coming? or maybe it happened and we haven't seen it yet.

[BeastieRunner]

That's a lot of grav waves.

[Grandpa Greenman]

Do they know about when this all might happen?

[Astra.]

Wow - that's amazing. I wonder what these young stars will eventually do ?

[Astra.]

Do they know about when this all might happen?

I was wondering the same thing.

It may take eons and eons of years before they possibly merge into one star and / or explode in a dramatic end.

Edited October 23, 2015 by Astra-

[Bendy Demon]

I wonder what will happen when the cores of both stars collide. Would there be an explosion? A destabilization of both stars resulting in mass amounts of material being flung off?

Perhaps merging without much reaction?

Would both cores repel one another enough to be separate yet still remain close enough to maintain a orbit around one another?

Very interesting find.

[SHaYap]

whatever that is going to happen there might have already happened and we don't see it yet ... looks so wonderfully benign, calm and breathtakingly beautiful ... imagine you are there seeing it all play out over your sky somewhere safe enough with a beer in hand ~

~

[Hawken]

They've probably already merged but since they're 160,000 lights years away we are seeing the past.

[Waspie_Dwarf]

They've probably already merged but since they're 160,000 lights years away we are seeing the past.

There are two reasons why I wouldn't use the word "probably" here.

Firstly because most astronomical events take millions, not thousands of years.

Secondly, and perhaps more pertinently, it is not certain that the stars will merge.

[SHaYap]

dang it ... I just wasted a can of beer ~

[Hawken]

There are two reasons why I wouldn't use the word "probably" here.

Firstly because most astronomical events take millions, not thousands of years.

Secondly, and perhaps more pertinently, it is not certain that the stars will merge.

Probably