This artist’s impression shows how hot, brilliant and high-mass stars evolve. The more massive brighter star expands first, until the outer layers start to strongly feel the gravitational pull of the companion. The companion then starts to suck material from the primary star. When the primary has been stripped from its entire hydrogen-rich envelope it shrinks. Credit: Navid Marvi, courtesy of the Carnegie Institution for Science
New findings confirm existence of hot helium stars long-thought to be at the heart of hydrogen-poor supernovae and neutron starA neutron star is the collapsed core of a large (between 10 and 29 solar masses) star. Neutron stars are the smallest and densest stars known to exist. Though neutron stars typically have a radius on the order of just 10 – 20 kilometers (6 – 12 miles), they can have masses of about 1.3 – 2.5 that of the Sun.” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{“attribute”:”data-cmtooltip”, “format”:”html”}]” tabindex=”0″ role=”link”>neutron star mergers.
Astronomers at the University of Toronto have discovered a population of massive stars that have been stripped of their hydrogen envelopes by their companions in binary systems. The findings, published on December 14 in the journal Science, shed light on the hot helium stars that are believed to be the origins of hydrogen-poor core-collapse supernovae and neutron star mergers.
Theory vs. Reality in Stellar Evolution
For over a decade, scientists have theorized that approximately one in three massive stars are stripped of their hydrogen envelope in binary systems. Yet, until now, only one possible candidate had been identified.
“This was such a big, glaring hole,” says co-lead author Maria Drout, an Assistant Professor in the David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics and a Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics Associate at the University of Toronto.
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Implications for Future Research
“If it turned out that these stars are rare, then our whole theoretical framework for all these different phenomena is wrong, with implications for supernovae, gravitational waves, and the light from distant galaxies,” Drout says. “This finding shows these stars really do exist.”
“Going forward, we are going to be able to do much more detailed physics with these stars,” Drout says. “For example, predictions for how many neutron star mergers we should see are dependent on the properties of these stars, such as how much material comes off of them in stellar winds. Now, for the first time, we’ll be able to measure that, whereas people have been extrapolating it before.”
Surveys conducted by NASA’s Swift-UVOT telescope provide the most detailed overviews ever captured in ultraviolet light of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, the two closest major galaxies to our own. The researchers use this ultraviolet dataset to identify the candidate systems that they targeted for this paper. Credit: NASA/Swift/S. Immler (Goddard) and M. Siegel (Penn State)
Binary Stripped Stars and Cosmic Phenomena
Binary stripped stars have been previously evoked to explain why a third of core-collapse supernovae contain much less hydrogen than a typical explosion of a Red Supergiant star. Drout and her colleagues propose that these newly discovered stars will eventually explode as hydrogen-poor supernovae. These star systems are also thought to be necessary to form neutron star mergers, like those that emit gravitational wavesGravitational waves are distortions or ripples in the fabric of space and time. They were first detected in 2015 by the Advanced LIGO detectors and are produced by catastrophic events such as colliding black holes, supernovae, or merging neutron stars.” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{“attribute”:”data-cmtooltip”, “format”:”html”}]” tabindex=”0″ role=”link”>gravitational waves detected from Earth by the LIGOThe Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) is a large-scale physics experiment and observatory supported by the National Science Foundation and operated by Caltech and MIT. It's designed to detect cosmic gravitational waves and to develop gravitational-wave observations as an astronomical tool. It's multi-kilometer-scale gravitational wave detectors use laser interferometry to measure the minute ripples in space-time caused by passing gravitational waves. It consists of two widely separated interferometers within the United States—one in Hanford, Washington and the other in Livingston, Louisiana.” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{“attribute”:”data-cmtooltip”, “format”:”html”}]” tabindex=”0″ role=”link”>LIGO experiment.
In fact, the researchers believe that a few objects in their current sample are stripped stars with neutron star or black hole companions. These objects are at the stage immediately before they become double neutron star or neutron star plus black holeA black hole is a place in space where the gravitational field is so strong that not even light can escape it. Astronomers classify black holes into three categories by size: miniature, stellar, and supermassive black holes. Miniature black holes could have a mass smaller than our Sun and supermassive black holes could have a mass equivalent to billions of our Sun.” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{“attribute”:”data-cmtooltip”, “format”:”html”}]” tabindex=”0″ role=”link”>black hole systems that could eventually merge.
Lead co-author Maria Drout (University of Toronto) with the Magellan Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory. Credit: Tom Holoien/Maria Drout
Stellar Partnerships and Evolution
“Many stars are part of a cosmic dance with a partner, orbiting each other in a binary system. They’re not solitary giants but part of dynamic duos, interacting and influencing each other throughout their lifetimes,” says Bethany Ludwig, a PhD student in in the David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics at the University Toronto and the third author on this paper. “Our work sheds light on these fascinating relationships, revealing a universe that is far more interconnected and active than we previously imagined.”
“Just as humans are social beings, stars too, especially the massive ones, are rarely alone,” Ludwig says.
As stars evolve and expand to become red giants, the hydrogen at the outer edges of one can be stripped by the gravitational pull of its companion—leaving a very hot helium core exposed. The process can take tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of years.
Study authors Bethany Ludwig, Anna O’Grady, Maria Drout, and Ylva Götberg observing on the Magellan telescopes at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile, where they gathered data for this research. Credit: Y. Götberg
Challenges in Detecting Stripped Stars
Stripped stars are difficult to find because much of the light they emit is outside of the visible light spectrum and can be obstructed by dust in the universe or outshone by their companion stars.
Drout and her collaborators began their search in 2016. Having studied hydrogen-poor supernovae during her PhD, Drout set out to find the stripped stars thought to be at the heart of them during a NASAEstablished in 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an independent agency of the United States Federal Government that succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). It is responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. Its vision is "To discover and expand knowledge for the benefit of humanity." Its core values are "safety, integrity, teamwork, excellence, and inclusion." NASA conducts research, develops technology and launches missions to explore and study Earth, the solar system, and the universe beyond. It also works to advance the state of knowledge in a wide range of scientific fields, including Earth and space science, planetary science, astrophysics, and heliophysics, and it collaborates with private companies and international partners to achieve its goals.” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{“attribute”:”data-cmtooltip”, “format”:”html”}]” tabindex=”0″ role=”link”>NASA Hubble Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for ScienceThe Carnegie Institution for Science is a private, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. that conducts scientific research and education. It was founded in 1902 by Andrew Carnegie and is one of the oldest independent research institutions in the United States. The Carnegie Institution for Science includes six research departments: Embryology, Observatories, Plant Biology, Global Ecology, Terrestrial Magnetism, and DTM (Department of Terrestrial Magnetism). It also has a number of affiliated programs and initiatives, including the Carnegie Academy for Science Education and the Carnegie Institution for Science's Department of Global Ecology.” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{“attribute”:”data-cmtooltip”, “format”:”html”}]” tabindex=”0″ role=”link”>Carnegie Institution for Science. She met fellow co-author Ylva Götberg, now Assistant Professor at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), at a conference, who had recently built new theoretical models of what these stars should look like.
Drout, Götberg, and their collaborators designed a new survey to look in the ultraviolet part of the spectrum where extremely hot stars emit most of their light. While invisible to the naked eye, ultraviolet light can be detected by specialized instruments and telescopes.
Using data from the Swift Ultra-Violet/Optical Telescope, the researchers collected brightnesses for millions of stars in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, two of the closest galaxies to Earth. Ludwig developed the first wide-field UV catalog of the Magellanic Clouds and used UV photometry to detect systems with unusual UV emissions, signaling the possible presence of a stripped star.
They carried out a pilot study of 25 objects, obtaining optical spectroscopy with the Magellan Telescopes at Las Campanas Observatory between 2018 and 2022. They used these observations to demonstrate that the stars were hot, small, hydrogen-poor, and in binary systems—all consistent with their model predictions.
Ongoing Research and Accessibility of Data
Currently, the researchers are continuing to study the stars identified in this paper and expanding their search to find more. They will be looking both within nearby galaxies and within our own Milky WayThe Milky Way is the galaxy that contains our Solar System and is part of the Local Group of galaxies. It is a barred spiral galaxy that contains an estimated 100-400 billion stars and has a diameter between 150,000 and 200,000 light-years. The name "Milky Way" comes from the appearance of the galaxy from Earth as a faint band of light that stretches across the night sky, resembling spilled milk.” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{“attribute”:”data-cmtooltip”, “format”:”html”}]” tabindex=”0″ role=”link”>Milky Way with approved programs on the Hubble Space TelescopeThe Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as Hubble or HST) is one of NASA's Great Observatories and was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990. It is one of the largest and most versatile space telescopes in use and features a 2.4-meter mirror and four main instruments that observe in the ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. It was named after astronomer Edwin Hubble.” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{“attribute”:”data-cmtooltip”, “format”:”html”}]” tabindex=”0″ role=”link”>Hubble Space Telescope, the Chandra X-Ray Telescope, the Magellan Telescopes, and the Anglo-Australian Telescope. As part of this publication, all theoretical models and data used to identify these stars have been made public and available to other scientists.
For more on this discovery, see Cracking the Case of Cosmic Ghost Stars.
Reference: “An observed population of intermediate-mass helium stars that have been stripped in binaries” by M. R. Drout, Y. Götberg, B. A. Ludwig, J. H. Groh, S. E. de Mink, A. J. G. O’Grady and N. Smith, 14 December 2023, Science.
DOI: 10.1126/science.ade4970
Collaborating institutions include the University of Toronto, the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science, Max-Planck-Institut für Astrophysik, Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics, and Steward Observatory.
Source: SciTechDaily
