Colliding-wind binary

<p>A colliding-wind binary is a <a href="/facts/Binary_star/TYlDe1bD">binary star</a> system in which the two members are massive stars that emit powerful, radiatively-driven <a href="/facts/Stellar_wind/bn5J6vpx">stellar winds</a>. The location where these two winds collide produces a strong shock front that can cause radio, <a href="/facts/X-ray/wseP79cN">X-ray</a> and possibly <a href="/facts/Synchrotron_radiation/mTsSKmRz">synchrotron radiation</a> emission. Wind compression in the bow shock region between the two stellar winds allows dust formation. When this dust streams away from the orbiting pair, it can form a pinwheel <a href="/facts/Nebula/hG6coklY">nebula</a> of spiraling dust. Such pinwheels have been observed in the <a href="/facts/Quintuplet_Cluster/9e1KlI15">Quintuplet Cluster</a>.
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<p>The archetype of such a colliding-wind binary system is <a href="/facts/WR_140/MlPG6st5">WR 140</a> (HD 193793), which consists of a 20 <a href="/facts/Solar_mass/j6Auhku8">solar mass</a> (<a href="/facts/Solar_mass/j6Auhku8">M☉</a>) <a href="/facts/Wolf-Rayet_star/YxHnTsF5">Wolf-Rayet star</a> orbiting about a 50 M☉, <a href="/facts/Spectral_class/dYrIuK9H">spectral class</a> <a href="/facts/O-type_main_sequence_star/zdcLjAEr">O4–5 main sequence star</a> every 7.9 years. The high <a href="/facts/Orbital_eccentricity/WGlB4NBn">orbital eccentricity</a> of the pair allows astronomers to observe changes in the colliding wind region as their separation varies. Another prominent example of a colliding-wind binary is thought to be <a href="/facts/Eta_Carinae/zsrmE2Lo">Eta Carinae</a>, one of the most luminous objects in the <a href="/facts/Milky_Way/ulF6lccN">Milky Way</a> galaxy. The first colliding-wind binary to be detected in the X-ray band outside
the Milky Way galaxy was <a href="/facts/HD_5980/VrpmhsL1">HD 5980</a>, located in the <a href="/facts/Small_Magellanic_Cloud/jg9s2YCl">Small Magellanic Cloud</a>.
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Colliding-wind binary open-in-new

Colliding-wind binary