A Gauhati University research team has achieved a major milestone in astronomy with the discovery of a Blue Straggler Star caught in the process of formation, providing the first direct observational evidence for a stellar phenomenon that scientists have theorised for decades.
The landmark study was led by Mr. Ali Hasan Sheikh, a Ph.D. scholar at Gauhati University and DST-INSPIRE Fellow, as the first author. He worked alongside Prof. Biman J. Medhi, Dr. Hitendra Sarkar, researchers from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, and several international collaborators.
Using data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO VLT), the team studied a binary star system located nearly 9,500 light-years from Earth. They observed one star actively transferring mass to its companion, directly capturing the process believed to create Blue Straggler Stars.
The discovery marks a significant advancement in stellar evolution research and highlights the growing contribution of Indian scientists, including researchers from Gauhati University, to cutting-edge global astronomical studies.
