Binary star to spill celestial secrets

摘要

After centuries of perplexing scientists with its wildly erratic behaviour, a nearby star may give up some of its secrets in the next couple of weeks. A binary system, η Carinae has two stars that swing past one another every 5.5 years. The bigger star-some 90 times the mass of the Sun-is incredibly unstable, always seemingly on the verge of blowing up. When the smaller companion star makes its closest approach to the primary star, as is happening now, the interaction between the two triggers violent changes in the high-energy radiation pouring out of the system.