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Birth of a Blue Straggler Star

Birth of a Blue Straggler Star

[Left] - A normal star in a binary system gravitationally pulls in matter from an aging companion star that has swelled to a bloated red giant that has expanded to a few hundred times its original size.

[Right] - After a couple hundred million years, the red giant star has burned out and collapsed to the white dwarf that shines intensely in ultraviolet wavelengths. The companion star has bulked up on the hydrogen siphoned off of the red giant star to become much hotter, brighter, and bluer than it was previously.

About the Object

  • R.A. Position
    R.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
    00h 47m 27.5s
  • Dec. Position
    Dec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
    +85° 16' 10.7"
  • Constellation
    ConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
    Cepheus
  • Distance
    DistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.
    540 light-years (1,770 parsecs)

About the Data

  • Data Description
    Data DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
    Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.
    These data were obtained via the HST proposal GO:12492, PI: R. Mathieu (University of Wisconsin, Madison) et al. The science team comprises: N. Gosnell (University of Texas, Austin), R. Mathieu (University of Wisconsin, Madison), A. Geller (Northwestern University and University of Chicago), A. Sills (McMaster University), N. Leigh (University of Alberta and American Museum of Natural History), and C. Knigge (University of Southampton, UK).
  • Instrument
    InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
    HST>ACS/SBC
  • Exposure Dates
    Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
    October 3 - November 23, 2012
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    NGC 188
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Open star cluster with blue stragglers
  • Release Date
    December 7, 2015
  • Science Release
    Hubble Helps Solve Mystery of ‘Born Again’ Stars
    Read the release
  • Credit
    NASA, ESA, and A. Feild (STScI)

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Details

Last Updated
Mar 14, 2025
Contact
Media

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

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