A Greek and a British astronomer used the new telescope Aristarchus with a 2.3 meter diameter, which is located at Mount Helmos in the Peloponnese, at an altitude of 2,340 meters to illuminate a mysterious ancient stellar system named KjPn8.
The main researcher of the Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, National Observatory of Athens, Panagiotis Boumis along with John Mimburn from the Center for Astrophysics, University of Manchester, who published their study in the prestigious journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society in Britain, said that it is probably a double star system, located in an exotic nebula.
They estimate that the system consisting of two stars, is about 6,000 years far from Earth and has ejected matter to space in three successive phases, 3,200, 7,200 and 50,000 years ago. Today, the ejected material is traveling around the interstellar space at a speed of 334 kilometers per second.
Stars having similar mass to the sun die, ejecting a huge part of the outer atmosphere into space, forming a nebula and leaving behind a bare core, which eventually turns into a white dwarf.
Boumis and Mimburn, with the help of a special camera placed on the telescope Aristarchus, managed to penetrate further into the secrets of the nebula and its enduring expansion. For the first time, they collected evidence which indicates that there is not just a single star, but a double star system hidden inside the nebula.
“Greece is one of Astronomy’s birthplaces worldwide, so it is expected that the research of the universe is continuing in the 21st century. The new telescope is expected to contribute to this global effort for many years in the future,” Boumis noted.
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