Astronomers finally find out why stars born from the same cloud are not identical twins

Curiously, binary stars born from the same parent cloud of collapsing gas and dust are not necessarily identical twins. It is also possible that different types of planets may be orbiting it. But why should this be so? Well, perhaps astronomers will finally find the answer. We know a lot about single star systems, but thanks to the Sun’s isolated lifestyle, an estimated 85% of stars have companion stars. These so-called binary stars are formed from the same gas cloud, which means they likely have the same chemical compounds, so they should have roughly the same chemical composition and the same type of planetary system. is. Using the Gemini South telescope in northern Chile, a team of researchers found that the differences in binary stars are due to differences in the compounds in the giant molecular clouds in which they appear. This information helped the researchers confirm for the first time that differences between stars may have arisen before they formed. “This is the first time we have shown that primordial differences do exist and are responsible for the differences between twin stars, showing that star and planet formation may be more complex than originally thought. ” said team leader and researcher Carlos Safé. The Institute of Astronomy, Earth and Space Sciences (ICATE-CONICET) said in a statement.

source: https://arxiv.org/abs/2402.09278