This star only pulsates on one side. This has never been seen before

Some 1,500 light-years away from Earth, astronomers have discovered a star that pulsates only from one side. Scientists expect them to discover more of these stars as technology develops to hear the inside of the stars.

The HD74423 star seemed unusual to scientists from the very beginning. Usually, such stars are relatively rich in metals, but this one was extremely poor in heavier elements, which made it seem an unusual hot star.

Dr. Simon Murphy from the University of Sydney informed the colleagues about the discovery of the star, but it turned out that they also have already started studying this star with a mass of 1.7 solar mass.

We have known since the 1980s that such stars should exist. I have been looking for such a star myself for almost 40 years and finally we have effects - says prof. Don Kurtz from the University of Central Lancashire in Great Britain.

Pulsating stars have been known in astronomy for a very long time. Our sun also pulsates in its rhythm. Such rhythmic pulsations of the surface of the star are observed in both young and old stars, they can be long and short, of varying intensity and origin.

However, all these stars had one thing in common: oscillations were always visible on the entire surface of the star. Now, however, a star has been discovered that pulsates in only one half.

During the research, it was possible to determine the cause of such unusual pulsations: the pulsating star is an element of the binary system, in which there is also a red dwarf. It is he who disturbs oscillations with his gravitational pull. The distance between the two components of the binary system is so small that both stars orbit the common center of mass in less than two days, and the gravity of the smaller one deforms the other so that it takes the shape of a drop.

Professor Gerald Handler from the Astronomical Center Nicolaus Copernicus in Warsaw notes:

Excellent data from the TESS satellite allowed us to observe changes in brightness caused by gravitational distortion of the star and pulsations.

Astronomers were surprised to note that the intensity of the pulsations depended on the angle at which the star was observed and the orientation of the star in a binary system.

When both stars revolve around each other, we see different fragments of the pulsing star. Sometimes we see the star side toward the red dwarf, and sometimes we see the outer side, 'says Dr. David Jones of the Canary Islands Institute of Astrophysics, co-author of the study.

It was in this way that astronomers learned that pulsations occur only on one side of the star, because small changes in brightness always appeared in observations when the same side of the star was directed towards Earth.

The star's peculiar behavior was first noticed by astronomy enthusiasts who carefully analyze the huge amounts of data provided by the TESS telescope.

Although HD74423 is the first observed pulsating star on one side, astronomers suspect there are many more.

This star only pulsates on one side. This has never been seen before