This Double Star System Puts 'Double Rainbow' to Shame

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Image: ESO/ALMA/Hyosun Kim

When the world was young and unsullied, we did wholesome things, like laugh at Cheezburger memes and other cat-related pleasantries . One treasure we all adored was the Double Rainbow video , in which a man-ostensibly on peyote and beaver tranquilizers-nearly orgasms at the site of two rainbows in the sky. Those halcyon days may be over, but now, we have a double star system to enjoy instead.

On March 6th, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) posted a mesmerizing image of a binary star system, captured by the agency's Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). The swirling, false color radio emissions image shows LL Pegasi-a star located 3,000 light-years from the Sun-getting along nicely with its binary companion. As the old red giant LL Pegasi orbits its companion, it loses material, and as a result of its highly elliptical path, it leaves behind a spiral shape. Each "layer" in the spiral is thought to represent about 800 years, which is the estimated orbital period of the binary system, according to Hubble . The new observations have been published in the March issue of Nature Astronomy .

"Because of the orbital motion of the mass-losing red giant, the cold molecular gas constituting the wind from that star is being spun out like the sprays of water from a rotating garden sprinkler, forming the outflowing pattern of spiral shells," UCLA astronomer and study co-author Mark Morris explained in a statement.

At some point in this cosmic love affair, LL Pegasi will become a nebula. Until then, we'll have many more years of this freakishly beautiful swirl.

[ Nature Astronomy via ESO ]