--- title: "Scientists Spot Ravenous “Vampire” Star Devouring Its Neighbor" description: "Astronomers have witnessed a gloomy event: a “vampire” star sucking the life out of its companion star. Using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile, a team of researchers watched a star in the system dubbed HR 6819 some 1,000 light-years from Earth strip its companion star of its outer layers — […]" date: "2022-03-02" modified: "2022-03-02" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/vampire-star-devouring-neighbor" categories: - "Science & Energy" tags: - "binary star system" - "Black holes" --- # Scientists Spot Ravenous “Vampire” Star Devouring Its Neighbor ![Astronomers have witnessed a gloomy event: a "vampire" star sucking the life out of its companion star.]() *\Image: ESO/L. Calcada\* Astronomers have [witnessed a gloomy event](): a "vampire" star sucking the life out of its companion star. Using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile, an international team of astronomy researchers watched a star in the system dubbed HR 6819, some 1,000 light-years from Earth, strip its companion star of its outer layers. Up until now, astronomers had suggested that the system was made up of a star and an accompanying black hole, with the first peacefully orbiting the latter every 40 days. In fact, back in 2020, astronomers made a big deal out of the announcement, claiming that the black hole was [the closest one of its kind to Earth](). But something felt off about the theory. "The scenarios we were looking for were rather clear, very different and easily distinguishable with the right instrument," said team lead Thomas Rivinius, Chile-based ESO astronomer and coauthor of [a new paper]() published in the journal *Astronomy & Astrophysics*, in [a statement](). "We agreed that there were two sources of light in the system, so the question was whether they orbit each other closely, as in the stripped-star scenario, or are far apart from each other, as in the black hole scenario," he added. The results of the investigation spoke for themselves. One of the VLT's instruments "confirmed that there was no bright companion in a wider orbit," while another "was was able to resolve two bright sources separated by only one-third of the distance between the Earth and the Sun," said KU Leuven researcher Abigail Frost, lead author of the study, in the statement. "These data proved to be the final piece of the puzzle, and allowed us to conclude that HR 6819 is a binary system with no black hole," Frost concluded. The reasoning is rather gruesome. "Our best interpretation so far is that we caught this binary system in a moment shortly after one of the stars had sucked the atmosphere off its companion star," said Julia Bodensteiner, KU Leuven researcher and coauthor, in the statement. In other words, one of the stars was a "vampire" stripping its companion of its material. The study could lead to more breakthroughs in our understanding of how this "stellar vampirism" phenomenon works. "Catching such a post-interaction phase is extremely difficult as it is so short," Frost said, arguing the HR 6819 system "presents a perfect candidate to study how this vampirism affects the evolution of massive stars." **READ MORE:** [“Closest black hole” system found to contain no black hole]() \[ESO\] **More on black holes:** *[Scientists Discover Black Hole That’s Creating Stars Instead of Devouring Them]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()