June 16, 2020

Illustration of GW Orionis's rings

An article published in “The Astrophysical Journal Letters” reports a study of the triple system of GW Orionis, or simply GW Ori, and in particular of the interactions between the three stars that compose it and the disk of gas and dust that surrounds it, divided in three rings. A team of researchers coordinated by the Department of Physics & Astronomy of the University of Victoria, Canada, used the ALMA radio telescope to conduct the observations necessary to identify the three rings, to estimate their masses, and to discover a misalignment between them.