Star Twins: Are All Stars Born in Pairs?

This is whether all stars are born in pairs.

If so, where’s the Sun’s twin?

So if you want to know all about the theory that all stars have a twin star, then you’re in the right place.

Without further ado, let’s do this!

How Stars Are Born

Every star forms deep in a molecular cloud. 

Basically, areas of the cloud begin collecting more and more mass, causing incredibly dense lumps. 

Ultimately, overpowered by its own newfound mass, gravity, and density, it collapses, and nuclear fusion ignites. 

Now, stars, like our own Sun, are born!

Are All Stars Born With a Twin?

UC Berkley and Harvard evidence paints an unexpected new storyline in star birth. 

Fully understanding stellar birth proves difficult, as only radio telescopes can see through thick molecular clouds. 

Astronomers did just that, using the Very Large Array (VLA) to gaze deep into a molecular cloud in Perseus. 

Using the resulting data, the team examined infant stars inside, like eggs.

Surprisingly, the astronomers found that essentially all binary stars were only a few hundred thousand years old (the equivalent of an infant newborn in human terms). 

Plus, most older stars were single. 

Finally, older stars still in binary systems were found extremely close together. Great, what does this mean?

Indeed, this indicates that nearly all stars are born with a twin, only to be separated at very early ages, hence the single elders. 

Furthermore, this shows that older, more developed stars that remain binary pairs likely result from being pushed close together, permanently locked in one another’s gravity.

If All Stars Are Born in Pairs, Where’s the Sun’s Twin?

Naturally, this raises the question, “where is our twin, then?” 

Our Sun likely had a twin sister, separated soon after the twins’ birth. 

Now, our sibling is likely somewhere else entirely in our Milky Way galaxy.

Occasionally, we experience such large-scale, almost poetic gestures from the universe. 

Almost similar to emotional or biological experiences felt at our human level. But, these universal vulnerabilities remind we are interconnected with Nature.