Quadruple Star System

Why in News?

Recently, a team of scientists has discovered a rare quadruple star system in the milky way galaxy.

Milky Way Galaxy or Akasha Ganga is a huge collection of stars, dust and gas. It is called as a spiral galaxy because, when view it from the top or bottom, it would look like a spinning pinwheel.

• The system known as UPM J1040−3551 AabBab
• Composition – It consists of a pair of cold brown dwarfs orbiting a pair of young red dwarf stars.
• Location – 82 light-years from Earth in the constellation Antlia.
• Association with brown dwarfs – This is the 1^st quadruple system ever discovered with a pair of T-type brown dwarfs orbiting 2 stars.
• Smaller stars and brown dwarfs are usually single, and the chance of a low-mass brown dwarf having a companion is below 5%.
  
• It contains a pair of young red dwarfs, the most common type of stars in the Milky Way, which are much brighter than their companions.
• Significance of discovery – 2 brown dwarfs, which are about the size of Jupiter, in the system emit almost no visible light.
• It can help astronomers better understand the conditions that are necessary for the formation of stars and planets.
• The abundance and distribution of brown dwarfs help astronomers to understand mass distribution in the universe, much of which remains unseen as dark matter.

Brown Dwarfs

• Nature – They are curious celestial bodies that share some similarities with stars and others with planets.
• Formation – These objects form like stars from collapsing clouds of gas and dust.
• Detection – Brown dwarfs are difficult to detect as they are very cold and faint.
• Astronomers search for them in multiple-star systems, where brighter companion stars help in studying their properties.
• Size – 7 0 times more massive than Jupiter.
• Features – Atmospheres similar to gas giant planets such as Jupiter and Saturn, which consist of clouds and molecules like H2O.
• Failed stars – They do not have enough mass to consistently fuse hydrogen, a process that heats a star and makes it shine.
• Hence, they are often known as failed stars.

References

1. The Indian Express| Rare Quadruple Star System
2. Royal Astronomical Society| Unlock Mystery of Brown Dwarfs

Related News – Milkyway Galaxy | Dark Matters