News: Recently, Scientists have discovered a rare quadruple star system in the Milky Way galaxy.
About the Quadruple Star System
- A star system in the Milky Way galaxy named as UPM J1040−3551 AabBab, is also called as a rare quadruple star system by the scientists.
- It consists of two cold brown dwarfs orbiting two young red dwarf stars.
- This specific configuration has never been seen before in astronomy.
- The discovery was made by an international team of scientists led by Professor Zenghua Zhang of Nanjing University.
- The system is important because:
- It helps scientists learn more about how different types of stars and sub-stellar objects form together.
- Multiple-star systems are common for massive stars, but much less common for smaller stars and brown dwarfs.
About Brown Dwarfs
- These are celestial objects that are often called “failed stars”.
- Features
- Formation: They form in the same way as stars, from collapsing clouds of gas and dust.
- Not true stars: They do not have enough mass to sustain hydrogen fusion, which is the process that makes stars shine.
- Because of this, they are not true stars and instead are cooler and fainter.
- They share some features with planets like Jupiter and Saturn, especially in their atmospheres.
- Brown dwarfs can be as massive as 70 times the mass of Jupiter.
- Brown dwarfs are cold and faint, so they emit very little visible light.
- Hard to detect: Astronomers usually detect them when they are part of a system with brighter stars.
- Importance
- Studying the brighter companion stars helps scientists estimate the age, temperature, and composition of the faint brown dwarfs.
- The discovery of brown dwarfs in a quadruple system is especially useful, because all four objects likely formed from the same material at the same time, giving more reliable data.
Why Do Scientists Study Brown Dwarfs?
- Studying brown dwarfs helps scientists understand the conditions needed to form stars and planets.
- They also help in estimating the distribution of mass in the universe.
- Since much of the universe’s mass is invisible and exists as dark matter, brown dwarfs provide important clues to fill the gap in our understanding.
- Discovering systems like UPM J1040−3551 helps scientists see how rare low-mass objects (like brown dwarfs) can exist in stable multiple-star systems.
