From Labs to Life: PhD Journeys Unplugged
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First binary star discovered near giant black hole at the centre of our Galaxy
Scientists have discovered the unique binary star D9 in close proximity to the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* at the centre of the Milky Way, providing new insights into star formation and their survival in extreme conditions.
The significant discovery, published in the prestigious journal Nature Communications, was co-authored by Michal Zajaček from the Faculty of Science at Masaryk University.
The discovery also suggests that the mysterious G-type objects could be young binaries just before their merger. "The D9 system, which consists of two bound stars orbiting each other, shows clear signs of the presence of circumstellar gas and dust, suggesting that it must be very young. It probably formed in the neighbourhood a black hole," says Michal Zajaček from Masaryk University. Future observations with modern instruments, such as the upcoming ELT telescope, may confirm the presence of other systems and planets that could form around young stars.
The work on this research was supported by the Czech Science Foundation (GAČR), specifically through the Junior Star grant, whose principal investigator is Michal Zajaček. More information about the scope of this grant can be found in a recent article on the GAČR website:
More information:
ESO press release
This research was published in the article “A binary system in the S cluster close to the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A*“ published in Nature Communications:
The team is composed of F. Peißker (Institute of Physics I, University of Cologne, Germany [University of Cologne]), M. Zajaček (Department of Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics, Masaryk University, Brno, Czechia; University of Cologne), L. Labadie (University of Cologne), E. Bordier (University of Cologne), A. Eckart (University of Cologne; Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, Bonn, Germany), M. Melamed (University of Cologne), and V. Karas (Astronomical Institute, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czechia).
