Star formation: A young binary star with parallel gas jets
In the vicinity of Rho Ophiuchi, the young binary star system WL20 shows something unusual: both stars emit parallel jets of gas while surrounded by dense disks of gas and dust.
© NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Klaus Pontoppidan (STScI) (details)
Many new stars are currently forming in the region around the star Rho Ophiuchi in the constellation Ophiuchus.
Using ESO’s ALMA telescope network in Chile and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), an unusual young binary star system has been observed in the constellation Ophiuchus: two WL20 stars surrounded by dense disks of gas and dust. They both push over the poles two simultaneously jets of gas, so-called jets. The planes are spread parallel to each other. WL20 is located about 400 light-years away from us, and this discovery was pure coincidence. Although WL20 had been known as an object for a long time, the star appeared much younger than the rest of the star cluster around Rho Ophiuchi, which didn’t fit the picture. To investigate this, a group led by Mary Personi of the California Institute of Space Science examined WL20 in more detail. In fact, no observation was planned at all, but since there was still observing time available with the James Webb Space Telescope, WL20 was once targeted on suspicion.
In the subsequent analysis, the team used archival data from ALMA and used new measurements from JWST. The collected data then clearly showed that the younger star is in fact a binary star. The ALMA data also revealed that both components are surrounded by an accretion disk with a diameter of about 100 AU (100 AU, which is 100 times the distance from Earth to the Sun). In data from the James Webb Space Telescope, recorded using the MIRI instrument, there was clear evidence of jets being ejected from both stars parallel to each other. Such behavior has not been observed before.
The WL20 system in the constellation Ophiuchus | On the left, the environment around the star Rho Ophiuchi in the constellation Ophiuchi is seen in near-infrared; On the right, the binary star system WL20 is shown in an artistic representation. Both stars are surrounded by dense disks of gas and dust called accretion disks. Both components of the system emit jets of hot gas, called jets, through the poles. Planets could one day form in disks.
The WL20 system sheds light on how binary stars evolve. It’s easy to imagine that planets could one day form in the accretion discs. The knowledge gained here can then be transferred to other binary stars.
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