8. Spiral-Armed Star
Found Year: 2011.
Who Found It: Eureka’s astronomer Carol Grady
Location of Science: Lupus
The star SAO 206462 is unique in that it has distinct spiral arms and a circumstellar disc of gas around it. When it comes to entire galaxies, spiral arms are common, but the SAO 206462 star has a unique pair of them, each measuring 14 billion miles across.
Star with Arms Spiral ©Flickr/NASA Universe
The arms of the SAO 206462 star, which is roughly 460 light-years from Earth, are thought to be connected to planets that may exist within the gaseous disc that encircles the star. The width of the gas disc is twice that of Pluto’s orbit.
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