NASA study identifies possible companion behind a giant star's recurring outbursts
A NASA-backed study reports that a hidden companion may be driving repeated outbursts from the star AT 2016blu.
NASA said Chandra observations helped identify a previously hidden companion in the AT 2016blu system. The study reports that the companion pulls material from the unstable star on an orbit of about 113 days.
Researchers said the object could be either a stellar-mass black hole or a neutron star. The findings were reported in The Astrophysical Journal.