Hungarian astronomers have determined the possible nature of the source of Gaia20EAE, which is located at a distance of 9200 light years from the ground and is characterized by significant vibrations of brightness. According to the conclusions of scientists, the object refers to unusual young stars – objects such as Lupi (Exor). This is reported in the article published in the Base of Preprints ARXIV.
Young Star Objects (YSO) are stars located at an early stage of evolution, that is, they are protocutals or recently moved to the main sequence. YSO is often surrounded by clouds of molecular gas and interstellar dust, so they are from time to time attract substance, which leads to an increase in flare activity. Young stars are divided into two types – FU ORIONIS (FUOR) and ExOR. The first can become brighter for four stellar magnitude and remain in this state several decades, and the second increase their activity for several months or years.
Astronomers have disclosed that Gaia20Eae, discovered in August 2020 by the GAIA spacecraft (owned by the European South Observatory, ESA), belongs to Exor. Scientists found out that the increase in brightness began at the beginning of 2020 and continued, despite some variability, on average at half the star magnitude per month from January to July 2020. The peak was traveled at the end of July 2020, and at present the star loses its brightness at a speed of 0.25 star magnitude per month. The level of rest will be achieved in May 2022.
Moreover, the growth rate of Gaia20EAE mass during the dimming phase is higher than that of typical stars t religs similar mass, which also belong to YSO. The authors note that Gaia20Eae could achieve the high pace of accretion characteristic of some FUOR. However, further research is needed for final conclusions.