A team of researchers has made a fascinating discovery in a beautiful nebula known as NGC 6164/6165, which is 3,800 light-years away from Earth. The nebula, often referred to as the Dragon’s Egg, surrounds a pair of stars called HD 148937. The remarkable finding is that one of the stars in the pair appears to be significantly older than the other, defying the conventional wisdom that stars in binary systems typically form around the same time.
In this unusual case, the older star is approximately 1.5 million years older than its companion, while the younger star is also magnetic, unlike its older counterpart. This mismatch raises important questions about the formation and evolution of the system. According to Abigail Frost, the lead author of the research, “When looking at the data, the coolness only increased. After a detailed analysis, we could determine that the more massive star appears much younger than its companion, which doesn’t make any sense since they should have formed at the same time!”
To uncover the secrets of this mysterytic nebula, the researchers analyzed the properties of the gas and dust that make up the nebula. They discovered that the nebula itself is remarkably young, with an age of only 7,500 years. It is also rich in elements such as nitrogen, carbon, and oxygen, which suggests that something dramatic occurred to kick off the existence of the nebula.
A Surprising Twist in the Center of a Luminous Nebula
One possible explanation is that the system originally had three stars, with two of them being close together while the third was farther away. The two inner stars may have merged violently, creating a magnetic star and ejecting material that formed the nebula. The distant star then formed a new orbit with the merged, magnetic star, resulting in the binary system that is seen today at the center of the nebula.
This merger scenario is not only fascinating from a scientific perspective but also has important implications for our understanding of how massive stars acquire magnetic fields. Massive stars do not typically retain their magnetic fields for long periods, so this discovery provides valuable insights into this process, which is not well understood. The research has been published in the journal Science.
The study of stars and their environments continues to provide opportunities for exciting discoveries, and the findings in NGC 6164/6165 are a testament to the power of research. As astronomers continue to explore the mysteries of the universe, we can expect to uncover even more surprising and fascinating phenomena that will challenge our understanding of the cosmos.
