A Quick Look at a Cosmic Jekyll and Hyde

Astronomers have spotted a double star system is flip-flopping between two alter egos using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes. This “Jekyll and Hyde“ system contains a dense object called a neutron star in orbit with a star like the Sun but that contains less mass. As they rotate around one another, the neutron star pulls material away from the lighter companion star and a disk of material that surrounds the neutron star forms. Astronomers refer to objects like these as “low-mass X-ra