A pair of binary stars that were once engaged in an intense cosmic brawl have left behind a beautiful gas cloud bursting with color, revealing clues about how the fight went down. The battle took place in the HD 101584 system, located thousands of light-years away in the constellation Centaurus, and the aftermath was captured by the 66 radio telescopes that make up the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile.
Dueling Stars Leave a Multicolored Cosmic Light Show
ALMA captured the aftermath of a scrap between two stars.
Feb 6, 2020 3:50 PMFeb 6, 2020 3:53 PM
The colors in this stunning image represent the speed and direction of the system's gas, ranging from blue (gas moving quickly toward us) to red (gas moving quickly away from us). The stars that were engaged in the fight are located in the bright dot at the center of the rings of colorful gas. (Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), Olofsson et al. Acknowledgement: Robert Cumming)
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