"Stellar Clash Unravels Nebula's Violent History"
Originally Published 1 year ago — by Phys.org
Astronomers studying the beautiful nebula NGC 6164/6165, also known as the Dragon's Egg, have discovered a violent history behind the stellar pair HD 148937 at its center. New data from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) suggests that the system originally had three stars, with two of them merging in a violent clash, creating the surrounding nebula and altering the system's fate. This discovery also provides direct evidence of how massive stars can acquire magnetic fields through mergers, solving a long-standing mystery in astronomy.