Most stars in our galaxy are not solitary like our Sun
In short: Our solar system feels familiar because we orbit a single Sun, but this is the exception rather than the rule. In the vastness of the galaxy, more than half of all stars possess one or more partners, engaging in complex gravitational dances that can reshape their very existence.
While our eight-planet system orbits a solitary Sun, most stellar systems are far more crowded. More than half of the stars in the sky are part of multiple star systems, ranging from simple pairs to complex arrangements containing as many as seven stars. These systems exhibit a vast diversity: a large, hot star might be orbited by a smaller, cooler companion, or a mid-sized yellow star like our Sun might be locked in an orbital embrace with a much smaller red dwarf.
The interaction between these partners can be violent and transformative. In close binaries, stars can even touch, merging into a single peanut-shaped entity. In other systems, a more massive star may exhaust its nuclear fuel and collapse into a dense white dwarf, neutron star, or black hole. If the companion orbits closely enough, the intense gravity of this collapsed object can drain material away from the partner star.
These exchanges of matter lead to spectacular phenomena. In X-ray binaries, the outflow of gas from a secondary star's disk can emit X-rays. In other cases, matter flowing between stars can alter how they age. If a white dwarf is involved in this exchange, it can trigger periodic explosions or even cause the entire star to blow up. Furthermore, when pairs of neutron stars spiral together and collide, they produce heavy elements such as gold, platinum, and iodine.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Binary and Multiple Stars: Crash Course Astronomy #34
- Also: Multiple Star Systems - NASA Science
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