Unique Pair of Red Dwarfs Astonishes Scientists

A new observation made by the team of scientists using the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) in Hawaii,  forces to condemn  the age old theory that close-in binary stars could not exist. Because this new observation found four different pairs of binary system whose stars are so close to each other that it takes them less than four hours to orbit one another. Binary stars make up for roughly half of the early Milky Ways cosmic population.

This is the first observation made at the binaries consisting of red dwarfs. These stars that contradict the previous estimations are up to 10 times smaller and a thousand times lighter than the sun.

Dr. Bas Nefs of the Netherlands' Leiden Observatory said, "To our complete surprise, we found several red dwarf binaries with orbital periods significantly shorter than the 5 hour cut-off found for Sun-like stars, something previously thought to be impossible. It means that we have to rethink how these close-in binaries form and evolve."

It is known that the stars shrink in size early in their lifetime, and if these binaries exist it means that their orbits have also shrunk else the stars would have been in contact and would have emerged.

The scientist state the possibility of this existence is that cool stars in binary are much more active and violent than previously thought. It is also possible that the magnetic lines radiating out from the cool star present, get entangled and distorted as they spiral in towards each other. The magnetic activity drops their speed forcing them to move closer.

Dr David Pinfield co-author of the University of Hertfordshire said, "Without UKIRT's superb sensitivity, it wouldn't have been possible to find these extraordinary pairs of red dwarfs. The active nature of these stars and their apparently powerful magnetic fields has profound implications for the environments around red dwarfs throughout our Galaxy."