A research team led by scientists from the University of Leeds, UK, has unveiled the workings of a group of stars referred to as “vampire stars,” which feed on their neighboring stars over time, akin to the way vampires in novels feed on their victims. These stars absorb hydrogen and plasma from another star in orbit around them. Starting small, these vampire stars grow in size as they pull material from their victim, potentially transforming the other star into a white dwarf or triggering a supernova, potentially destroying both stars in the process, Vampire Stars in Astronomy.
The study, published in the “Monthly Notices” of the Royal Astronomical Society, used data from the Gaia space observatory, a European Space Agency project launched in 2013. Gaia aims to create the most accurate three-dimensional map of more than a billion stars in and beyond our Milky Way galaxy, tracking their movements, brightness, temperature, and chemical composition.
The researchers focused on a subset of vampire stars belonging to the spectral class “B,” which are giant blue stars with masses ranging from three to 17 times that of the sun. Some of these stars have oval shapes and possess gas rings similar to Saturn’s.
The study, examining these stars over periods ranging from six months to ten years, revealed that these vampire stars are not only found in binary systems but also in triple star systems. The presence of a third, often invisible star, is thought to be a key factor in transforming some stars into vampires by gravitationally pulling the two other stars closer, allowing one to begin draining material from the other.
This discovery shifts the focus of astronomers to triple star systems, which were previously overlooked in the study of stellar evolution. The revelation has implications for other areas in astronomy, such as black holes and neutron stars, which may merge under the influence of a third unseen body.
( Vampire Stars in Astronomy )
