Two stars, three dimensions, and oodles of energy
For decades, astronomers have known about irregular outbursts from the double star system V745 Sco, which is located about 25,000 light-years from Earth. Astronomers were caught by surprise when previous outbursts from this system were seen in 1937 and 1989. When the system erupted on February 6, 2014, however, scientists were ready to observe the event with a suite of telescopes including NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory.