Posted on 02/05/2022 2:22:40 PM PST by MtnClimber
Explanation: Variable star R Aquarii is actually an interacting binary star system, two stars that seem to have a close symbiotic relationship. Centered in this space-based optical/x-ray composite image it lies about 710 light years away. The intriguing system consists of a cool red giant star and hot, dense white dwarf star in mutual orbit around their common center of mass. With binoculars you can watch as R Aquarii steadily changes its brightness over the course of a year or so. The binary system's visible light is dominated by the red giant, itself a Mira-type long period variable star. But material in the cool giant star's extended envelope is pulled by gravity onto the surface of the smaller, denser white dwarf, eventually triggering a thermonuclear explosion, blasting material into space. Astronomers have seen such outbursts over recent decades. Evidence for much older outbursts is seen in these spectacular structures spanning almost a light-year as observed by the Hubble Space Telescope (in red and blue). Data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory (in purple) shows the X-ray glow from shock waves created as a jet from the white dwarf strikes surrounding material.
For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.
And what does that 'common center of mass' consist of?
Wasn’t sure if this was astronomy picture or aquarium picture.
Still not sure.
Looks like a purple snake getting eaten by a crocodile.
I always enjoy your humorous images!
Good to hear.
To me it looked like a double cheeseburger with bacon that fell off the plattre and landed on the kitchen floor in front of an aquarium.
Obviously it is two giant lightning bugs of an alien
species mating.
In the case of a binary system consisting of a pair of stars, the center of mass of the system is a point somewhere along a line running from the center of one star to the center of the other. That is, the "center of mass" of the system is a point in space where no "mass" exists, but it's the center of the system taken as a whole.
If the two stars have the same mass, then that center of mass point will be midway between the two stars. If their masses differ, then the point will be closer to the more massive star. If their masses are vastly different, the point may be inside the more massive star, but not at its center.
Example: In the Earth/Moon system the center of mass of that system is a point within the Earth, but several hundred miles away from the middle of the Earth, in the direction of the Moon. If the Moon were much more massive than it is, the center of mass of that system would be a point in space outside the boundary of the Earth.
The “barycenter” is the common center of gravity of any multiple body system, which is the actual point that all objects orbit around. Hence, the moon doesn’t really orbit the earth, both objects orbit a common center of gravity.
Yes.
Yes.
I see that now.
The bacon is extra crispy.
Nope. It’s definitely a light saber match between a barnacle and a jellyfish.
Yaaaawn, time for bed now.
Thanks! The word “mass” threw me off. I guess it is just the center, where The Man Upstairs designated it.
Because the barycenter is not at the physical center of the Earth, but several hundred miles distant from the physical center (in the direction of the Moon), the elliptical orbit that the Earth takes around the Sun is actually perturbed. Viewed from above (way above the North Pole), the orbit would appear as an ellipse with a sinewave "wiggle" superimposed on it, whose amplitude is the distance between the barycenter and the physical center of the Earth.
Certainly. The sun would also appear to wobble, from the galaxy’s reference frame, as it orbits because of its own orbit around the solar system barycenter. The earth-moon barycenter also has an effect on earth’s tides.
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