Since the system is so rare, it is estimated that there are just 10 of them in the entire Milky Way galaxy.
It meets all the prerequisites for a kilonova, or the explosion that results from the collision of two neutron stars and produces an incredibly strong blast that can be seen throughout the cosmos.
“We know that the Milky Way contains at least 100 billion stars and likely hundreds of billions more. This remarkable binary system is essentially a one-in-ten-billion system,” said NOIRLab astronomer and co-author on the new study, André-Nicolas Chené. “Prior to our study, the estimate was that only one or two such systems should exist in a spiral galaxy like the Milky Way.”
The astronomers that discovered the twin star system claim that it has a high mass and is brilliant in X-rays. However, it is particularly strange since the two stars follow what is described as a "weirdly round" orbit around one another.
It seems to have been created when a supernova or exploding star faded out rather than going off with the normal big bang.
Researchers were able to identify one of the two stars as a "depleted" supernova thanks to its peculiar orbit. This meant that the star's core collapsed as a result of fuel consumption and produced a rather modest explosion.
The stars often enter a long, elliptical orbit as a result of that explosion. The two stars remained precisely aligned in a spherical orbit since the star didn't even have enough energy to produce such a burst.
They will eventually merge, producing strong gravitational waves that will travel throughout space and leave behind heavy metals like silver and gold.
Even by itself, the pair of stars is peculiar. However, scientists believe that by uncovering systems like these, we may be able to better understand kilonovae, those dramatic explanations that are also believed to be the origin of the universe's gold.