BHB2007: A Baby Binary Star in Formation
Model: gemini-2.0-flash-exp
Prompt version: 1.0
How do binary stars form? To help find out, the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) recently captured one of the highest resolution images yet taken of a binary star system in star formation.
Most stars are not alone — they typically form as part of a multiple star systems where star each orbits a common center of gravitation. The two bright spots in the featured image are small disks that surround the forming proto-stars in BHB2007 11, while the surrounding pretzel-shaped filaments are gas and dust that have been gravitationally pulled from a larger disk.
The circumstellar filaments span roughly the radius of the orbit of Neptune. The BHB2007 system is a small part of the Pipe Nebula (also known as Barnard 59), a photogenic network of dust and gas that protrudes from Milky Way’s spiral disk in the constellation of Ophiuchus.
The binary star formation process should be complete within a few million years. This image demonstrates the power of modern astrophotography in unraveling the mysteries of the cosmos, particularly the formation of complex stellar systems.