England, June 11: Astronomers have discovered a giant blinking star named, VVV-WIT-08, near the centre of Milky Way galaxy. It is located more than 25,000 light years away from the Earth. According to the researchers, VVV-WIT-08 may belong to a new class of blinking giant binary star system. This star is 100 times larger than our Sun. It is eclipsed (obscure light from) once every few decades by another unseen orbital companion. The companion may be another star or a planet, which is surrounded by an opaque disc, which covers the giant star, causing it to disappear and reappear in the sky. The star was found by the VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea survey (VVV), a project using the British-built VISTA telescope in Chile and operated by the European Southern Observatory (ESA). The “WIT” stands for “what is this?” because still the astronomers are wondering what it is! Now the challenge for them is to find out the companion and how they are surrounded by discs.
News inputs by Swasti Sharma.
Image credits: Amanda Smith / University of Cambridge