6 Peculiar Stars of our Universe

Stars are one of the most important celestial bodies of our universe. Generally, they are perceived as massive, circular masses of Hydrogen and Helium but that’s not always the case. Modern technology has enabled humanity to explore far-off regions of space. This allowed astronomers to trace a lot of peculiar stars. The following list comprises of some of the most peculiar stars of our universe. 

HV 2112

Star inside a star? Yes, that’s right. HV 2112 is an extremely bright red supergiant. It  is located at a distance of 199 million light-years from our planet. Scientists regarded it as a Throne-Zytkow Object (TZO) on the basis of the elements released by the star because they are different from those of a typical red supergiant.

A TZO is a star that is inside another one. According to Kip Throne and Anna Zytkow (the scientists who proposed this kind of stars), TZOs are formed when a red supergiant star (an old star with very little Hydrogen) devours a neutron star (the collapsed core of a dead giant star).   

The Double Double Star

The Epsilon Lyrae multiple star system was originally considered a binary system until detailed examination. From a distance, it seemed as if the two stars are orbiting each other. However,  a closer look suggested something way more exciting – each of these stars is a binary itself. In simpler words, each of these stars is actually a couple of stars that are orbiting each other. In addition to that, both pairs are also orbiting each other. Due to these findings, researchers named this system as “the Double Double”. Having said all that, there is sufficient distance between both stars in each set. It will take each star in a set around 1,000 years to complete a revolution around its partner. Similarly, the binaries need about 500,000 years to complete an orbit around the other.

Kepler 11145123

Kepler 11145123 makes it to this list of peculiar stars on the basis of its shape. Contrary to our general beliefs, planets and stars are not actually perfectly round. The centrifugal force, produced due to their rotation, makes them wider along their equators. Having said that, Kepler 11145123 is the roundest natural object known to humanity. It is nearly 5000 light-years away from Earth and is really an exception.

According to the calculations of astronomers, the diameter of Kepler 11145123 is approximately 3.2 million kilometers. However, they believe that slight variations (a margin of about a couple of kilometers) could be possible. For sake of comparison, our Sun is around 10 kilometers wider at its equator whereas Kepler 11145123 is just 6 kilometers wide at its equator despite being twice the size of the Sun.

SAO 206462

Can you imagine spiral arms around a star? If not, SAO 206462 will certainly enhance your imagination with its two spiral arms. It is located in the Lupus constellation (around 460 million light-years away from Earth) and has a humungous circumstellar disk of dust and gas around it. The width of this disk is so much that it accounts for nearly two orbits of the Pluto. The general belief of scientists about spiral arms around a star is that they develop when new planets are forming inside the disk. Following a lead from this idea, they think that two new planets are developing around SAO 206462.

CFBDSIR 1458+10

The cold temperature (around 100^o C) of CFBDSIR 1458+10 is the thing which places it among the peculiar stars of our universe. This brown dwarf is 75 light-years away from Earth and is part of a binary system. Despite the fact that brown dwarfs are incredibly weaker than real stars, most of them are still considerably hotter than CDBDSIR 1458+10. The temperatures of other known brown dwarfs lie in the range of 177-327 degrees Celsius, which makes them significantly hotter than this peculiar star. A specific class of researchers thinks that the star has water clouds that are responsible for such a low temperature. 

EBLM J0555-57Ab

The general perception about stars is that they are massive celestial objects which have no comparison with planets when it comes to size. In opposition to that, EBLM J0555-57Ab is a Saturn-sized star, which is located at a distance of 600 light-years from Earth. Although Saturn seems a huge heavenly body in comparison to Earth, it is expressively smaller than the star of our solar system. Interestingly, EBLM J0555-57Ab just meets the requirements to be called a star. If it had been any smaller, it would have failed to create enough internal pressure to trigger nuclear fusion. In that case, EBLM J0555-57Ab would have been categorized as a brown dwarf.