Astronomers have seen a rare and important life event in the evolution of a pair of stars.
The team found a star surrounded by material. The common envelope phase is where this shell came from.
This phase occurs when material from one star comes in contact with another. A mass transfer from the swelled star to its companion can cause problems. Astronomers hadn't seen the aftermath of this phase until now.
There are spots of an eclipse of an odd star.
The common envelope phase is a missing link in the chain of events that make up the life of stars.
When one star runs out of hydrogen for nuclear fusion things get interesting for the pair
The collapse of the star's hydrogen-exhausted core is the first step in the creation of a red giant star. This is different for stars in pairs than it is for a lonely one.
Wolf said that when one of the stars becomes a red giant, it doesn't just claim more empty space. They appeared as one star under an opaque envelope. Things get really exciting when that happens.
Wolf says that the motion of the stars within the envelope has a profound effect on the evolution of the stars. He said that it causes heat but slows down the stars so they spiral into an ever-tighter circle.
After heat from the process causes the surrounding matter to be ejected in a violent blow-out, the stars can end up over 100 times closer together.
The blow-out for the stars was 10,000 years ago. A white dwarf and a hot subdwarf which will eventually evolve into a white dwarf are predicted by the researchers.
The first glimpse of the aftermath of the common envelope phase of stellar evolution is what the team found.
We have a better idea of what to look for now. Wolf said that the findings could have implications for other unions. It could help reconstruct black hole mergers.
The research was published in a journal.
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