Pattern from an elliptical binary system
ALMA, Hyosun Kim, et al.
An international team of astronomers used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to unravel the elliptical nature of the binary orbit of the old star LL Pegasi and its companion. This image shows the composite image of molecular gas around LL Pegasi. By comparing this gas distribution depicted in detail by ALMA with theoretical simulations, the team concluded that the bifurcation of the spiral-shell pattern (indicated by a box) resulted from a highly elliptical binary system.