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ALMA is Watching a Massive Binary Star System Form

This artist's illustration shows a pair of young binary stars and their misaligned disks. They're still in the process of forming, and that's giving astrophysicists and opportunity to learn more about binary star formation. Image Credit: Y. Zhang

Astronomers used 8 years of observations to create a 3D image of a very young, very massive binary star as it forms. The image shows that the disks in the system are all misaligned. Those misalignments, together with the orbit, are clues to the system's chaotic history.



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