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Artist's concept of supergiant star Epsilon Aurigae eclipsed by dust circling a companion star.
In this artist's concept, Epsilon Aurigae (the supergiant star at right) is starting to be eclipsed by the dust disk circling a single, much dimmer B star. A new model explains the decades-old paradoxes of this system by assuming that its stars are relatively old, not young.
Every 27 years, a bright star called Epsilon Aurigae fades over period of two years, then brightens back up again. Though amateur and professional astronomers have observed the system extensively, the nature of both the bright star and the companion object that periodically eclipses it had remained unclear. The companion is known to be surrounded by a dusty disk, as illustrated in this artist's concept.
Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech
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