The Case of the Blue Lurker

Produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute’s Office of Public Outreach in collaboration with NASA’s Universe of Learning partners: Caltech/IPAC, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Video imagery:

·       Star Cluster Messier 67: ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2, Davide De Martin

·       Artist’s concepts of blue lurker system history: NASA, ESA, Leah Hustak (STScI)

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Various images of planets and other space phenomena scroll down the screen. A line extends to the right and underlines the title. 

 

Text: News from the Universe. The Case of the Blue Lurker. January 24, 2025. 

 

White, orange, and yellow stars are gathered in a cluster in the middle of black space. 

 

Text: In collaboration with the now-retired Kepler Space Telescope, NASA's Hubble has solved the mystery of the blue lurker. 

 

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First, Kepler detected a rare blue lurker star in the open cluster M67 that was spinning much faster than expected. 

 

A close-up of the star cluster shows black space with the blue lurker and nearby white dwarf. The blue lurker is a yellow star in the upper right, and the white dwarf is a smaller white star in the lower left. 

 

Text: Astronomers used Hubble to investigate the white dwarf companion star to the blue lurker (which does not actually appear blue). Artist's concept. 

 

Hubble showed the white dwarf is very hot and more massive than predicted -- evidence that the white dwarf is the byproduct of two stars merging. 

 

An illustration shows two bright spheres next to each other with blue spirals radiating out from them. 

 

Text: Once, this was not a binary system, but a triple. Around 500 million years ago, the two inner stars merged, creating a single, much more massive star that swelled and dumped material onto the blue lurker, increasing its spin. 

 

An illustration shows a large fiery sphere with a slender line curving off from it with a smaller sphere at the end. 

 

Text: This is one of the only triple-system histories astronomers have been able to trace in detail. 

 

They hope this discovery leads to a greater understanding of the various paths stellar evolution can take. 

 

This news was brought to you in part by the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, MD.