L1551 IRS 5: A curious case of a young and active binary star

(Phys.org)—L1551 IRS 5 is a young binary star, only about half a million years old. Due to its proximity (about 450 light years away) and its high activity, the system has been intriguing astronomers for many years. Malcolm Fridlund of the Leiden Observatory in Netherlands, studying L1551 IRS 5 for almost 40 years, is one of the scientists fascinated by this object. He has published more than 20 scientific papers regarding this topic, and the newest one, which appeared online on Mar. 22 in