Have colliding stars ever been observed?

[thetexan]

Are there any known examples of colliding stars? has the phenomena ever been observed?

tex

 

[Chronos]

Star collisions are extraordinarily rare [space is really big]. The most common of such events is called an inspiralling binary system, which takes a very long time to occur.

 

[Vanadium 50]

You also have a phenomenon call "blue stragglers" in clusters.

Note that "collision" is really only a special case of "mass transfer", which we see all the time.

 

[Drakkith]

You also have a phenomenon call "blue stragglers" in clusters.

Note that "collision" is really only a special case of "mass transfer", which we see all the time.

I like to call it "Head-On Mass Transfer". Remember to buckle up.

 

[Brainiac2]

Globular cluster stars are more likely to mass-transfer that way.

 

[LPV man]

Has anyone ever modeled a stellar collision between stars of reasonably close mass

 

[stargazer3]

Gamma-ray bursts, a great high-energy flashes observed every day in the sky, are thought to be the pruducts of collision between two neutron stars. It is not a head-on collision (due to a very low probability of such an interaction), but it is a hot topic in astrophysics now.

Here's a great introductory video about it. Not very relevant to head-on stuff, but hey, we all love big explosions, right?

Edit: LVP_man, there are simulations in that link, and I'd guess the stars are of equal mass.

 

[LPV man]

Gamma-ray bursts, a great high-energy flashes observed every day in the sky, are thought to be the pruducts of collision between two neutron stars. It is not a head-on collision (due to a very low probability of such an interaction), but it is a hot topic in astrophysics now.

Here's a great introductory video about it. Not very relevant to head-on stuff, but hey, we all love big explosions, right?

Edit: LVP_man, there are simulations in that link, and I'd guess the stars are of equal mass.

That was a very interesting video, amazing it took six weeks of computing time to create the simulation of the merger event between two neutron stars

 

[goldsax]

wow that was an amazing clip...
i presume the neutron stars would be revolving around each other at almost relativistic speeds..
what a thought...