What Happens When Stars Collide?
The eclipsing, pulsating binary star J0247-25 (artist's impression) Keele University via Universe Today In this case, you get a newly observed kind of pulsating star. It sure would be interesting to watch two stars run into each other - from a safe distance, of course. One can imagine there would be quite the titanic battle going on between their competing gravitational forces, throwing off gas and matter as they collide. They also leave behind interesting echoes, at least according to new research. A European team looked at the leftovers of one collision and found a type of pulsating star that has never been seen before. It's common for stars to form in groups or to be paired up, since they form from immense gas clouds. Sometimes, a red giant star in a binary system gets so big that it will bump into a companion star orbiting nearby. This crash could shave 90%...