by Qev » Wed Oct 25, 2006 3:17 am
I'm not sure if there's actually a specific name for collisions between stars other than 'stellar mergers'. It's supposed to be a pretty rare event, although it apparently happens in very populous areas such as inside globular clusters, leading to what are called 'blue stragglers'.
When two stars collide, it seems to 'rejuvinate' them, the merged star appearing brighter, bluer, and younger than the two progenitor stars. Which only makes sense, I suppose, considering the star has just doubled (or more) its original mass.
I'm not sure if there's actually a specific name for collisions between stars other than 'stellar mergers'. It's supposed to be a pretty rare event, although it apparently happens in very populous areas such as inside globular clusters, leading to what are called 'blue stragglers'.
When two stars collide, it seems to 'rejuvinate' them, the merged star appearing brighter, bluer, and younger than the two progenitor stars. Which only makes sense, I suppose, considering the star has just doubled (or more) its original mass.