NASA's SOFIA telescope spots eclipse of binary stars engaged in dust cloud exchange

NASA's SOFIA telescope, which observes the universe while flying in a Boeing airplane, has shed light on two stars orbiting each other. The stars are a part of a system known as R Aquarii that lies in the constellation Aquarius about 720 light-years from Earth.

According to NASA, SOFIA’s observations have revealed that in this system lies a giant star that is undergoing dramatic changes in its brightness every 387 days whereas the second star is a white dwarf.

SOFIA uncovers specialties of the star system

The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) observatory has uncovered a few specialties of the binary star system. In a report, NASA revealed that the giant star in the system falls into a category called Mira variables and the white dwarf crosses it every 43.6 years, causing an eclipse when seen from Earth.

The telescopic observations have also revealed that the stars get closest to each other during the eclipse, an event that also causes the pair to get dimmer and dimmer. NASA says that this happens because the white dwarf accretes more and more of the dust surrounding the giant star.

(SOFIA telescope; Image: NASA)

Thanks to SOFIA's observations, astronomers have a chance to watch the stars exchange their cosmic dust as its infrared camera, FORCAST, has just the right angular resolution to watch. The telescope, which is a result of a collaboration between NASA and the German Space Agency (DLR), has been monitoring the onset of the eclipse since 2018 and according to scientists, the stars will come closest in 2023.

When that happens, astronomers will calculate the amount of dust escaping the Mira variable and how much is being accreted by the white dwarf. Steven Goldman, a scientist from Universities Space Research Association, said in a statement, "It’s an opportunity to see it in a unique way because the material that’s being accreted isn’t obscured by the Mira, it’s right out in front".

Moreover, Ravi Sankrit, an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute and author of a study based on SOFIA's data, said that the observations will probe the very fundamental aspects of astrophysics. Interestingly, the physics being uncovered by the scientists will also be applicable to hundreds of other similar binaries that are experiencing the same phenomenon.