Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Read more
Scientists have discovered a “greedy” white dwarf star that is “going thermonuclear” as it devours its twin at an unprecedented rate.
An international team of astronomers found that the double star, V Sagittae, is blazing strongly as it consumes its celestial neighbour not far from Earth.
A University of Southampton spokesperson said the study found the star is “burning unusually bright as the super-dense white dwarf is gorging on its larger twin in a feeding frenzy”.
“Experts think the stars are locked in an extraterrestrial tango as they orbit each other every 12.3 hours, gradually pulling each other closer.
“They say it could cause a massive explosion so bright it would be seen by the naked eye from Earth, some 10,000 light years away.”
Professor Phil Charles, from Hampshire University, said that the images captured using the powerful European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile had solved a mystery about the star pair, which had puzzled astronomers.
open image in gallery
The double star V Sagittae, around 10,000 light years away from Earth (University of Southampton/PA)
“V Sagittae is no ordinary star system – it’s the brightest of its kind and has baffled experts since it was first discovered in 1902,” he said.
“Our study shows that this extreme brightness is down to the white dwarf sucking the life out of its companion star, using the accreted matter to turn it into a blazing inferno.
“It’s a process so intense that it’s going thermonuclear on the white dwarf’s surface, shining like a beacon in the night sky.”
Dr Pasi Hakala, from the University of Turku, Finland, who led the study published in the Monthly Notices Of The Royal Astronomical Society, said that the team had also found a ring of gas, like a giant halo, encircling both stars, which had been created by the huge amounts of energy being generated by the hungry white dwarf.
open image in gallery
The images were captured at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in northern Chile (Getty)
He explained: “The white dwarf cannot consume all the mass being transferred from its hot star twin, so it creates this bright cosmic ring.
“The speed at which this doomed stellar system is lurching wildly, likely due to the extreme brightness, is a frantic sign of its imminent, violent end.”
Dr Pablo Rodriguez-Gil, from Spain’s Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, added: “The matter accumulating on the white dwarf is likely to produce a nova outburst in the coming years, during which V Sagittae would become visible with the naked eye.
“But when the two stars finally smash into each other and explode, this would be a supernova explosion so bright it’ll be visible from Earth even in the daytime.”