Visualization Credit: ALMA Observatory (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)
Explanation: What's happening around that star? An unusual spiral structure has been discovered around the Milky Way star
R Sculptoris, a red giant star
located about 1,500 light years away toward the constellation of the Sculptor (
Sculptoris). The
star was observed with the new
Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), the most powerful telescopic array observing near millimeter wavelengths, that part of the spectrum situated well beyond red light and between microwaves and radio waves. Data from
ALMA observations was used to create a 3D
visualization of the gas and dust immediately surrounding the star. A digital slice through this data showed the unexpected
spiral structure. Although unusual, a similar spiral pattern was discovered in visible light recently around
LL Pegasi. Upon analyzing the data, a
hypothesis was drawn that the red giant star in R Sculptoris might be puffing gas toward an unseen
binary companion star. The dynamics of
this system might be particularly insightful because it may be giving clues as to how
giant stars evolve toward the end of their lives -- and so release some constituent elements back to the
interstellar medium so that new stars may form.
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