All articles tagged with #white dwarf
Astronomers using the XRISM X-ray observatory have shown that the Be-star gamma-Cas is being slowly fed by a compact companion, likely a white dwarf, explaining its unusual X-ray emissions and solving a long-standing mystery about this nearby star.
XRISM data show gamma Cas’s extreme X-rays track the orbit of a magnetized white dwarf siphoning material from its Be-star companion, not the Be star itself, confirming a Be–white-dwarf binary and prompting new models of binary evolution.
Using NASA’s TESS data from 2019–2024, astronomers identified TIC 120362137 as the most compact 3+1 quadruple star system: an eclipsing binary eclipsed by a third star, plus a distant fourth star with a 1,045.5‑day orbit—the shortest outer period observed in such a configuration. The inner three stars are packed within Mercury’s orbital distance while the outer companion sits near Jupiter’s orbit. The team’s models suggest the inner trio will merge into a white dwarf in ~300 million years, leaving a double white-dwarf system with a ~44‑day orbit.
Warhammer Community's Sunday Preview highlights next week’s pre-orders across Warhammer 40,000 Corsairs (Aeldari and Red Corsairs), returning Middle-earth miniatures, and White Dwarf 522 content. It also showcases new Combat Patrols, narrative scenarios, and rule downloads, with many kits available on a made-to-order basis until March 16, 2026.
Astronomers using China’s Einstein Probe spotted an extreme X-ray outburst (EP250702a) in a distant galaxy that models as an intermediate-mass black hole tearing apart a white dwarf, a finding supported by HKU simulations and follow-up observations. The event’s unusual timing and rapid evolution provide what researchers call the first direct evidence of this feeding process and could help uncover the long-m missing population of intermediate-mass black holes, with implications for multi-messenger astronomy.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope captures a sharp close-up of the Helix Nebula, a planetary nebula about 650 light-years away formed when a Sun-like star shed its outer layers and left a white dwarf at its center; Webb’s infrared view reveals hot gas and cooler dust, illustrating how dying stars recycle heavier elements into the cosmos and seed future planets, with binary interactions potentially triggering novae.
Astronomers using the CHARA Array and other telescopes captured real-time images of two novae (V1674 Herculis and V1405 Cassiopeiae), revealing complex, multi-stage gas outflows and gamma-ray emissions—showing that nova explosions are not single blasts and linking surface nuclear processes to the geometry of ejected material and high-energy radiation.
High-resolution CHARA Array images of 2021 novae V1674 Herculis and V1405 Cassiopeiae reveal complex, jet-driven eruptions in binary white-dwarf systems, including perpendicular outflows and a delayed ejection likely tied to a common-envelope phase. The gamma-ray signals observed by NASA’s Fermi coincide with internal shocks in the debris, linking surface nuclear reactions to high-energy radiation and challenging the idea of novae as simple spherical shells. These findings, published in Nature Astronomy, position novae as natural laboratories for extreme physics.
Scientists using the CHARA Array’s near-infrared interferometry captured high‑resolution images of two novae (V1674 Herculis and V1405 Cassiopeiae), showing non‑spherical, interacting ejecta and fast/slow evolution, with a gamma-ray connection that challenges the idea of a single impulsive explosion.
Astronomers using the VLT have spotted a rainbow-colored bow shock around RXJ0528+2838, a white dwarf in a binary about 730 light-years away. The nebula, extending ~4,000 AU and at least 1,000 years old, surrounds a diskless system that is actively pulling material from its companion. Researchers believe an extremely strong magnetic field powers an unusual, outflow-like phenomenon—the so-called mysterious engine—without a traditional accretion disk, challenging current models of mass transfer in binary systems. The finding, published in Nature Astronomy, suggests more such systems may exist and could be studied in detail with the upcoming ELT set to go online by 2028.
NASA's IXPE has captured detailed observations of the white dwarf star EX Hydrae, revealing new insights into its accretion process and magnetic field interactions, marking a significant advancement in high-energy astronomy.
NASA's IXPE has for the first time used its X-ray polarization capabilities to study a white dwarf star, EX Hydrae, revealing details about the star's accretion process and magnetic field, which enhances understanding of energetic binary systems.
The first White Dwarf of 2026, issue 520, offers an in-depth look at Warhammer 40,000's Titus and the Nightbringer, along with lore, miniatures design, new missions, and features on Nurgle-themed terrain and Age of Sigmar collections, with pre-orders available.
The Grotmas Calendar Day 21 features four Warhammer 40,000 missions from the White Dwarf Bunker, designed to add variety to holiday gaming sessions with friends and family, set against a backdrop of a war-torn planet in the 41st Millennium.
A binary star system called V Sagittae, located about 10,000 light-years away, is on the verge of a supernova explosion due to a white dwarf star rapidly consuming its larger companion, which will be visible from Earth during the day. The system's extreme brightness and impending explosion have been studied using the Very Large Telescope, revealing a giant gas ring and signs of an imminent nova or supernova event. This rare cosmic event could reshape our understanding of stellar life cycles.