Mass of Tiny Binary Star Discovered with Extreme Radio Emissions

Scientists have managed to determine the mass of a tiny binary star thanks to some intense radio emissions. The emissions are rare in such small stars, which means that scientists are now reviewing stellar evolution models.

The small binary star is known as AB Doradus B, and is located in the AB Doradus star system, consisting of two pairs of stars. Stars normally emit light that can be seen with the naked eye or through telescopes, but some also emit radio waves.

In this case, the radio emissions made it possible for researchers to calculate the mass of the star.

"The mass of these stars cannot be reproduced by the current models of stellar evolution, so we require a major overhauls of these theories," said Jose Carlos, one of the researchers, in a news release.

Since 2007, researchers have observed the AB Doradus star system through the Australian network of radio antennas known as the Long Baseline Array (LBA). In this case, the researchers found the binary star has an intense radio emission but that the stars shine at visible wavelengths rather than radio wavelengths. So what causes the radio waves?

The researchers believe that the two stars are the result of two stars in contact at a very high rotation rates which merged into a single object.

The findings reveal a bit more about these binary stars and show how theories need to be reworked now that researchers know that such a tiny system can emit these waves.

The findings are published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

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