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Astronomers at Curtin University's ICRAR branch report a dead star spinning every eight minutes, emitting radio pulses while orbiting a Sun-like star more than 5,000 light-years away. The white dwarf and G-type star, designated GPM J071507-114153, mark the first such radio-pulsing pair found with a Sun-like companion rather than a red dwarf. The pulses belong to a poorly understood group called long-period transients, of which only about a dozen are known. Radio data from more than 100 hours of observation let lead author Dr. Sam McSweeney's team track the white dwarf's orbit, placing the pulses near it or possibly on it. The same data revealed magnetic storms on the companion, including flares, and ScienceDaily reported that the white dwarf likely passed behind a stellar prominence. The system was found in a Murchison Widefield Array survey, located with MeerKAT and confirmed with Keck Observatory optics, and the find offers fresh clues to the mystery of these radio sources.

Sources:ScienceDaily

1 outlet · 1 article · first seen Nov 15, 11:00 AM ET

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