Rare System With Five Stars Has Astronomers Excited

A rare system of five stars orbiting a common center of mass was recently discovered by astronomers.

According to BBC, the five-star system consists of two binaries and one star connected with one of the binaries. Of the two binaries, the star couple in one of the binaries is so close that they share outer atmosphere. This binary is a contacting binary while the second binary is a detached binary where the stars are separated by a distance of three billion kilometers.

The system was discovered using equipment on Canary Islands and South Africa by imaging the sky every few minutes.

The finding of a star system with five suns is said to be rare. Only one other such system is known to have been found by NASA's Kepler telescope. The current system is said to be 250 light years away in the constellation Ursa Major. Researchers calculated the mass using the blink in light the stars cause when they pass each other and through wavelength data.

They also found that both binaries and the fifth star have consistent velocities and orbit periods, and orbit a common center of mass. Co-author Dr Marcus Lohr told BBC News that the stars could have been formed from the same proto-stellar disc of gas and dust.

The findings were presented at a recent UK National Astronomy Meeting.