Stellar Divorce

[HysteryDiagnosis]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110915083715.htm


Hubble Space Telescope image of the open star cluster NGC 265. (Credit: European Space Agency / NASA / E. Olszewski)

ScienceDaily (Sep. 16, 2011) — Not all stars are loners. In our home galaxy, the Milky Way, about half of all stars have a companion and travel through space in a binary system. But explaining why some stars are in double or even triple systems while others are single has been something of a mystery. Now a team of astronomers from Bonn University and the Max-Planck-Institute for Radio astronomy (also in Bonn) think they have the answer -- different stellar birth environments decide whether a star holds on to its companion.