Unveiling the Enigmatic Population of Stripped Stars in Supernova Science
Astronomers have discovered 25 stars in two satellite galaxies of the Milky Way that have had their hydrogen-rich outer layers stripped away by a binary companion, leaving them as exposed helium stars. These hydrogen-stripped stars represent the progenitors of a special type of supernova and fill in a gap in our understanding of these powerful cosmic events. The discovery of these stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud and the Small Magellanic Cloud confirms models of stellar evolution and provides insights into the social lives of binary systems. Further study will be conducted to identify possible kilonova progenitor systems and search for hydrogen-stripped stars in other galaxies and within the Milky Way.