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Scientists have for many years searched the Milky Way for objects that seem intriguing or strange in some way. And although they managed to find many of them (even white dwarfs, magnetars, pulsars, black holes and many more), they are still surprised with new discoveries.
A giant object in the Milky Way is changing its brightness abruptly
Now at a distance of 25 thousand. years from Earth, a giant blinking star has been found near the very center of our galaxy. The authors of a study published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society calculated that the object, called VVV-WIT-08, changed its brightness sharply within a few months.
And while variable stars are nothing new, this time we are dealing with a different object. The researchers observed that the star’s brightness (or at least VVV-WIT-08 appears to be) decreased by 97%. within 200 days. At a minimum, it has almost completely disappeared from the sight of astronomers.
In just the next few months, the object brightened again, returning to its normal state. Researchers emphasize that VVV-WIT-08 does not resemble pulsating or eclipsing binary stars, because they do not change their brightness so much or so abruptly.
Scientists were able to discover a new class of stars
Researchers believe that VVV-WIT-08 may belong to a new, as yet unknown class of stars they call “twinkling giants”. In their opinion, they are extremely massive stars with masses about 100 times greater than the Sun, around which another, also large object, orbits.
As scholars explain, this companion may be another star or planet surrounded by a thick disk of impervious material. If our orbiting obscures our view of a giant star, we perceive it as a huge decline in brightness. And that was the case here.
It is amazing that we have just observed a dark, large and elongated object passing between us and a distant star, and we can only speculate as to its origin
said co-author Dr. Sergey Koposov of the University of Edinburgh.
Scientists already know a few examples of similar “twinkling” stars, but none varied in brightness as much as VVV-WIT-08. Of course, more research is needed to learn more about the newly discovered object and its potential new class of stars.
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