[The Epoch Times, March 2, 2024](Compiled and reported by Epoch Times reporter Linda) Astronomers peered into the depths of the universe and discovered a strange and interesting celestial object about 800 light-years away: a star that looks like a sandwich. , giving scientists a glimpse into how early star systems formed.
Astrogastronomy
The star’s discoverer named it “Dracula’s Chivito” (after Uruguay’s national dish – steakburger). As for the Dracula (vampire) part of its name, it is because the star has “fangs”, which will be explained in detail later in this article.
As described in one study, this stellar sandwich is still young for a star and is surrounded by a protoplanetary disk of gas and dust that, when viewed from its edge, just about Split neatly in half so it looks like a sandwich.
The researchers pointed out that this accidental discovery is closest to the equally rare “Gomez’s Hamburger” discovered in 1985 – another young sandwich star.
fresh perspective
Researchers say “Dracula’s Chivito” weighs an estimated 2.5 suns. At the same time, its temperature is about 8,000K (Kelvin temperature, equivalent to about 7,700 degrees Celsius), so it is more massive and hotter than the sun.
The protoplanetary disk surrounding the sandwich star had a mass of about 0.2 solar and a size of 1,650 AU, with each unit equal to the distance between the Earth and the Sun. It is therefore the “largest protoplanetary disk” to date, the researchers wrote.
This structure is particularly interesting to astronomers because it may eventually give birth to planets. What’s more, the sandwich view allows us to observe it from a perspective rarely seen in research.
Unlike Gomez Burger, this star appears to have protruding “fangs” on its north side, which researchers believe are peripheral remnants that were born but are dissipating during its formation. This is strong evidence that it is still young.
Another detail that makes this object unique is its solitary location—located in a corner of space unrelated to known star-forming regions, which is unusual because stars tend to form in dense clusters.
“Gomez Burger” is also lonely. Astronomers believe that there may be more sandwich stars waiting to be discovered in these relatively barren regions of space. With luck, one will find more of these “stellar delicacies.”
The new research has been submitted to The Astrophysical Journal Letters and a preprint was published by Cornell University.ArXiv websitePublished on February 1st. ◇#
Editor in charge: Ye Ziwei