© Unknown
Washington: Two of NASA's great observatories, the Spitzer and Hubble space telescopes, have teamed up to uncover strobe-like flashes in a suspected binary protostar.
Every 25.34 days, the object, designated LRLL 54361, unleashes a burst of light. Although a similar phenomenon has been observed in two other young stellar objects, this is the most powerful such beacon seen to date.
The heart of the fireworks is hidden behind a dense disk and envelope of dust.
Astronomers propose the light flashes are caused by periodic interactions between two newly formed stars that are binary, or gravitationally bound to each other. LRLL 54361 offers insights into the early stages of star formation when lots of gas and dust is being rapidly accreted, or pulled together, to form a new binary star.
Astronomers theorize the flashes are caused by material suddenly being dumped onto the growing stars, known as protostars.
A blast of radiation is unleashed each time the stars get close to each other in their orbits. This phenomenon, called pulsed accretion, has been seen in later stages of star birth, but never in such a young system or with such intensity and regularity.