Four Crazy Stars Astronomers Think Might Really Exist

From stars made of dark matter to stars literally living inside their partners, these stellar systems are theoretically possible.

By Eric Betz
Mar 26, 2021 3:00 PMMar 26, 2021 2:00 PM
Dark Matter Stars - Kelly/Discover/NSF
With help from dark matter annihilation, some of the universe’s earliest stars were able to grow much larger than they would otherwise. (Credit: Astronomy/Roen Kelly after NSF)

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Every day, we bathe in the glow of a giant, burning ball of gas that sustains life on our planet. At night, we look up at a sea of stars, which come in a staggering variety of sizes, colors and ages. These objects all shine thanks to the same nuclear fusion that powers our own Sun. But they might not be all the universe has to offer.  

Some astronomers think there are so-called "exotic stars" out there, composed of particles other than the typical electrons, protons and neutrons that make up our Sun and all of its cousins. And while these exotic stars are still hypothetical, scientists are starting to find evidence that some of them might actually exist. Here, we’ve compiled a list of four of the weirdest and most exotic stars that might be floating in space.

Dark Matter Stars

Two galaxy clusters collided to create the “Bullet Cluster,” shown here. Normal matter is shown in pink and the rest of the matter is illustrated in blue, revealing that dark matter dominates this enormous cluster. (Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/CfA/M.Markevitch et al.; Optical: NASA/STScI; Magellan/U.Arizona/D.Clowe et al.; Lensing Map: NASA/STScI; ESO WFI; Magellan/U.Arizona/D.Clowe et al.)
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