Heartbeat stars, illustration. These stars are shown in their closest approach along their highly elongated orbits around one another. The mutual grav

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Heartbeat stars, illustration. These stars are shown in their closest approach along their highly elongated orbits around one another. The mutual gravitation of the two stars causes them to become slightly ellipsoidal in shape. A third, more distant star in the system is shown at upper left. Its gravitational influence may be responsible for maintaining the 'heartbeat' orbits. This type of star system has been observed by NASA's Kepler space observatory, which was launched in 2009. The observed system is KIC 9965691, which is also a Kepler Eclipsing Binary. This image was published in 2016.

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Size: 5573px × 3135px
Photo credit: © NASA/JPL-CALTECH/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: -, 2016, 21st, 9965691, artwork, astronomical, astronomy, astrophysical, astrophysics, binary, century, discovered, discovery, eclipsing, gravitational, heartbeat, hunting, illustration, kepler, kic, mechanics, mission, nasa, orbital, orbiting, parent, planet, planetary, space, star, universe