Astronomers have found a new explanation for the mysterious vortex around the star AB Aurigae, about the discovery which was reported last week. According to the basic version, this structure is formed formed exoplanet, however, another possibility is that the twisting of the dust may be caused by the second star. Article scientists published in the repository of the arXiv preprints.
AB Aurigae, whose age is about four million years, surrounded by a protoplanetary disk. With the help of a complex of radio telescopes ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) in Chile, researchers have found inside the disk gap and spiral patterns around it. As possible causes of this phenomenon, the scientists proposed the double star, exoplanet, and other mechanisms that create perturbations in the cosmic cloud. The simulation results showed that the most likely option may be the presence of a large planet, whose mass at 4-13 times the mass of Jupiter.
However, the observed pattern corresponds to a scenario in which around AB Aurigae is rotated to the second star. Double stars make up 85 percent of the total stellar population, and there is evidence in favor of the fact that initially all stars are born in pairs, but some eventually lose his companion. According to the model, one part of the disk becomes gravitational unstable and begins to attract gas and dust, forming a second smaller star and the protoplanetary disk.
Vortex structure can be generated by a star whose mass is half or two solar masses. The inclination of its orbit must be very high, from 60 to 90 degrees. The vortex in the AB Aurigae is very similar to what is observed in other emerging binary systems [BHB2007] 11 and FS Tau A.
