Rare double-star system discovery: one in 10 billion! 

A newly discovered and very rare binary star system exhibits very strange behavior, according to the researchers who found it. The system is so unusual that only about 10 of them are thought to exist in our enormous Milky Way galaxy. 

This system has all the conditions to trigger a kilonova, the explosion that occurs when neutron stars collide, triggering an ultra-powerful explosion that can be detected throughout the universe.

"SEE ONE IN 10 BILLION"

"We know that the Milky Way contains at least 100 billion stars, and possibly another 100 billions more. This remarkable binary star system occurs essentially once in 10 billion," says André-Nicolas Chené, an astronomer at NOIRLab and co-author of the new study.

Prior to our study, it was predicted that only one or two such systems could exist in a spiral galaxy like the Milky Way.

Astronomers who found these twin stars say the system glows with X-rays and is massive. But this is particularly unusual because astronomers say the two stars orbit each other in a "weird circular" course.

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"MAY HAVE OCCURRED BY THE EXTINGUISHMENT OF SUPERNOVA"

The system in question appears to have been formed by the extinction of a stellar explosion, or supernova, rather than an ordinary and impressive explosion.

Thanks to the strange orbit of the stars, the researchers found that one of the two stars was an "extinct" supernova. This means that the star had a relatively weak explosion as its fuel ran out and its core collapsed.

This burst puts the stars in a generally long elliptical orbit. But since this star didn't have enough energy to even produce such an explosion, the two stars instead were closely aligned in a circular orbit.