2023-08-14 16:24:37
Astronomers have discovered a binary system in which tsunamis three times higher than the Sun rise and fall on the surface of a giant star triggered by the motions of its smaller companion.
Named MALE 80.7443.1718, the star system in question belongs to a group known as “heartbeat” stars, because of their tendency to pulsate at a steady rate. However, in the case of this one, its brightness fluctuates by about 20% per “beat” – 200 times more than most. As such, he was dubbed the “Broken-hearted star”.
In an article published last week in the journal Nature Astronomy, scientists at the Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, linked to Harvard University, in the USA, explain why this system pulsates so wildly. To understand, the team created a computer model for each of the two stars that make it up and simulated their interactions as they orbit each other.
Star surfing: Astronomers detect monster waves, as tall as three suns, breaking on the surface of a colossal star, MACHO 80.7443.1718. It is the first time that this phenomenon has been observed in a star.
“Each crash of the star’s towering tidal waves… pic.twitter.com/VUtBi5q7zD— Enrique Coperías (@CienciaDelCope) August 10, 2023
Read more:
Tsunamis in binary star system could disintegrate Earth
According to the study, the primary star is huge, being 24 times larger than the Sun and 35 times more massive. As the smaller star approaches, every 33 days or so, its gravitational pull hurls material at the larger companion in waves that swell and grow, before finally breaking like waves on a beach.
These waves can reach about 4.3 million km in height, which corresponds to almost three suns stacked one on top of the other – characterizing true tsunamis!
“Each fall of the star’s tidal waves releases enough energy to disintegrate our entire planet several hundred times,” says Morgan MacLeod, co-author of the study, in a announcement. “These are very big waves”.
Furthermore, this monthly gravitational dance “stretches” the larger star, as it sheds stellar material into a rotating atmosphere. These factors are what create the drastic changes in brightness seen from Earth, according to MacLeod.
MALE 80.7443.1718 is one of about 20 known heartbeat star systems that show unusually large brightness fluctuations. “This heartbroken star may just be the first of a growing class of astronomical objects,” said the lead researcher. “We are already planning a search for more of them, looking for the glowing atmospheres released by their crashing waves.”
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