Triple Star System Smashing Stellar Theories

The study, led by PhD student Jonathan Dodd and Professor René Oudmaijer, observed the movement of stars over various time scales. When studying space, scientists group different types of stars together based on similar characteristics. Be stars are a subset of B stars that are characterized by the presence of a circumstellar disk, and, like other B stars, Be stars were originally thought to exist in binary systems; however, the new study suggests they’re actually part of triple star systems.Be stars have long captivated astronomers due to their distinctive gas discs, akin to the rings of Saturn. Although these stars have been known for about 150 years, like much of the universe, their origin has remained a mystery. Prior to the triple star theory, the prevailing theory asserted that the gas discs formed due to the rapid rotation of Be stars, possibly induced by their interaction with another star in a binary system.