Astronomers spotted quadruple stars, which may spark supernova explosions

In 2017 using Gaia-ESO Survey, astronomers detected a rare double-binary star system HD74438 in the Vela constellation. Further observation of this quadruple star system tracked the orbits of the stars. The observations revealed that this stellar quadruple comprises four gravitationally bound stars. In this system, a short-period binary orbits another short-period binary on a longer orbital period (2+2 configuration). A new study by astronomers from the University of Canterbury Mt John Observatory in New Zealand has reported the properties of HD74438. They showed that the gravitational effects of the outer binary system are changing the orbits of the inner binary, causing it to become more eccentric. Advanced simulations of the system’s future evolution show that such gravitational dynamics can lead
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