Plasma waves in space aren't a new phenomenon, but it can be surprising just how tall they can get. As such, large plasma waves have been spotted around the MACHO 80.7443.1718 star system with heights tripling the size of the sun.
Space Plasma Waves
The MACHO 80.7443.1718 star system was first discovered in the 1990s and was given its name from the MACHO Project, which first discovered it. What makes this star system stand out is its heartbeat star, which consists of two stars orbiting each other.
The binary star system sees the two stars drastically far from each other, and it received its name from its flash of brightness. The pulse of brightness is similar to how an electrocardiogram displays a heartbeat.
Ultra-hot matter forms tidal waves within the system, rolling from the larger star to the smaller star as it gets closer. Compared to Earth's sun, the larger star of the MACHO star system is 35 times its mass.
This phenomenon creates a celestial dance involving massive waves equal to a fifth of the larger star's radius. These waves can reach thrice the size of the sun or about 2.7 million miles.
The event is amazing enough for it to be a subject of a science fiction movie; and at certain parts, the waves completely cover the second star, which researchers were able to create a video simulation of.
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MACHO Star System
The MACHO project observed the Milky Way and found the first sign of dark matter within the galaxy. This involved the MACHO Collaboration, which was a consortium of multiple participating scientists who observed the Milky Way and concluded that the gravitational microlensing events were related to compact halo objects and their influence.
Morgan MacLead, an astrophysicist from the US Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said that the energy released from the star's tidal waves was enough to disintegrate Earth's entire plant by hundreds of times over.
MacLeod was joined by Abraham Loeb, his colleague, to explore the MACHO 80.7443.1718 due to how its brightness continued to fluctuate. The scientists found that the swings were far from the usual 0.1%, with brightness fluctuations reaching 20%.
Computer Generated Model
The researchers then generated a computer model to give them a better picture of the phenomenon. The gargantuan tidal waves produced by the model gave a better explanation as to how its brightness was affected by the substantial swings of the star system.
The model showed how the swings came from a push and pull of gravity as the stars moved closer and farther apart. This was similar to how tides on Earth are generated as the Moon comes nearer and farther.
The star displayed unique properties, giving it the "heartbreaker" label as a heartbeat star. Its name was in reference to the gigantic waves from the larger object's surface breaking up.
MacLeon highlighted the possibility of there being other astronomical objects in the same growing class.
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