Exploring More Star Systems

More than 1,300 exoplanet host stars have been discovered by an astrophysicist. He found 15 per cent of the stars which have at least one companion star, which is only about half the frequency expected for solar like stars. This may give an indication that the influence of several stars in a system disrupts the process of planet formation. Till date there are more than 4,000 exoplanets out of which most of them are orbiting single stars like the Sun. Also, astrophysicist Dr Markus Mugrauer of Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany, has discovered and characterised many new multiple star systems that contain exoplanets. The findings of his study were assumptions that the existence of several stars influences the process by which planets are formed and develop. This study by Mugrauer, of the Astrophysical Institute and University Observatory of the University of Jena, has been published in the specialist journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Mugrauer also explained that there are multiple star systems in our Milky Way and if all these systems include planets then Astrophysics has interest in the same due to the planetary systems in them as they can differ from our solar system in fundamental ways. However to understand better on these differences, Mugrauer had researched more than 1,300 exoplanet host stars with exoplanets orbiting them in order to know if they have companion stars. To this end, he accessed the precise observation data of the Gaia space telescope, which is operated by the European Space Agency (ESA). This is how he got success in proving that approximately 200 companion stars existed to planetary host stars that are up to 1,600 light years distant from the Sun and with this data, Mugrauer was characterised detailed analysis of the companion stars. Aside to this, the companion stars also vary because they have different masses, temperature and stage of evolution. However the heaviest one among them weigh s1.4 times more than the Sun whereby the lightest have only 8 per cent of the Sun's mass. Maximum companion stars are low-mass, cool dwarf stars that glow in red all the time. They also managed to find eight white dwarfs among the faint stellar companions. However, a white dwarf is the burnt-out core of a sun-like star, around about as big as the Earth, but half as heavy as the Sun. These observations proved that exoplanets can definitely survive the final evolutionary stage of a nearby sun-like star. The study also found that the majority of the star systems identified by exoplanets have two stars. Whereby, some two dozen hierarchical triple star systems and some even have a quadruple star system. Approximately 20 and 10,000 astronomical units, a total of 15 per cent of the stars in the range of distances that have been studied, have at least one companion star. This is considered to be only about half the frequency expected in general for solar-like stars. Along with this, the companion stars detected also show distances about five times greater than in ordinary systems.

By: Anuja Arora
Content: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/11/191113103726.htm