Scientists have found 12 binary stars in the Andromeda galaxy that exchange mass

The researchers used observational data from the Isaac Newton optical telescope located on

Canary Islands.In 2006, Spanish astrophysicists discovered 437 eclipsing binaries in the northeastern part of the Andromeda Galaxy, which was observed by a telescope. These are systems in which a change in apparent brightness is periodically observed due to the eclipse of one of the paired stars by the second.

In a new work, Chinese researchersanalyzed the light curves of eclipsing systems discovered by Spanish scientists and showed that 12 of them belong to semi-separated binaries, in which mass exchange between stars occurs. The authors of the study note that in the systems they found, only secondary (less massive) components filled their Roche lobes. The substance of such stars flows through the inner Lagrange point to its "partner".

Roche lobe, the region around a star in a binary system, the boundary of which is an equipotential surface containing the first Lagrange point

Astrophysicists note that the relationship betweenmass ratio and filling factor of the primary star shows that the systems are at the stage of slow mass transfer from less massive components to their companions. The researchers also found that the temperature distribution of the primary and secondary components of these binary stars is similar to that of the semi-separated systems of the Milky Way.

According to scientists, this confirms that evolutionmassive binary systems in the Andromeda galaxy should be similar to the processes that took place in the Milky Way. The discovery of scientists confirms the correctness of the theory of the development of binary star systems, which was formulated on the basis of observations only of our galaxy.

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