Indian Institute of Astrophysics spots blue straggler in Collinder 261

Technology Jul 31, 2026

Astronomers from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics and their global team just caught a blue straggler star forming in the Collinder 261 cluster, about 9,500 light-years away.

These stars stand out because they're hotter, brighter, and heavier than their neighbors: basically, they look much younger than they really are.

TESS and VLT show mass transfer

Using data from NASA's TESS mission and Chile's Very Large Telescope, the team found that this star is stealing material from a nearby companion, kind of like getting a cosmic energy drink.

This supports the theory that blue stragglers form through mass transfer or mergers.

The discovery gives us a direct look at how these unusual stars get their second life and helps scientists understand stellar evolution better.