The rainbow nebula created by an interstellar battle

The ALMA telescope captures a beautiful multicolored gas cloud surrounding two fighting stars in the Centauru constellation more than 6,800 light-years from Earth.

Astronomers studied the binary system HD101584 with the Atacama Large Millimeter / submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile and found two stars clashing violently. The red giant in the system swells as it burns its hydrogen reserves and is about to become a white dwarf. It is larger than its original size, preparing to reach the lower star.

HD101584 star system surrounded by brilliant nebula.(Photo: CNN).

But the small star in the system responds with motion instead of shooting away. It moves in a spiral toward the core of the red giant. The collision did not occur, but the rubbing motion caused the red giant to lose its outer gas layers. Those layers are scattered, revealing the star's core.

Research on this star system is published in Astronomy & Astrophysics."The HD101584 star system is very special in that the process of dying ends early and furiously when the red giant" devours "a nearby low-mass companion," said Hans Olofsson, the lead researcher at Dai. study Chalmers Technology in Sweden, said.

As a result, the battle between the stars creates a beautiful nebula, which consists of material splashes and colorful gas rings. Observing this type of event helps the team better understand what the Sun is about to experience during evolution. Future telescopes will allow astronomers to better track the HD101584 star system.