07-20-2023, 06:30 AM
"A rotating white dwarf shows different compositions on its opposite faces"
This one is really bizarre. A white dwarf star, which is essentially the type of star our sun will turn into when it's very old, has two sides to it; one is dominated by hydrogen and the other by helium. I've never heard of such a star before and it was astronomers using the Keck on Mauna Kea that discovered its two-faced nature.
"Here we report observations of ZTF J203349.8+322901.1, a transitioning white dwarf with two faces: one side of its atmosphere is dominated by hydrogen and the other one by helium. This peculiar nature is probably caused by the presence of a small magnetic field, which creates an inhomogeneity in temperature, pressure or mixing strength over the surface9,10,11. ZTF J203349.8+322901.1 might be the most extreme member of a class of magnetic, transitioning white dwarfs—together with GD 323 (ref. 12), a white dwarf that shows similar but much more subtle variations. This class of white dwarfs could help shed light on the physical mechanisms behind the spectral evolution of white dwarfs."
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06171-9
Big Island Now also has an article about it.
https://bigislandnow.com/2023/07/19/unus...-maunakea/
This one is really bizarre. A white dwarf star, which is essentially the type of star our sun will turn into when it's very old, has two sides to it; one is dominated by hydrogen and the other by helium. I've never heard of such a star before and it was astronomers using the Keck on Mauna Kea that discovered its two-faced nature.
"Here we report observations of ZTF J203349.8+322901.1, a transitioning white dwarf with two faces: one side of its atmosphere is dominated by hydrogen and the other one by helium. This peculiar nature is probably caused by the presence of a small magnetic field, which creates an inhomogeneity in temperature, pressure or mixing strength over the surface9,10,11. ZTF J203349.8+322901.1 might be the most extreme member of a class of magnetic, transitioning white dwarfs—together with GD 323 (ref. 12), a white dwarf that shows similar but much more subtle variations. This class of white dwarfs could help shed light on the physical mechanisms behind the spectral evolution of white dwarfs."
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06171-9
Big Island Now also has an article about it.
https://bigislandnow.com/2023/07/19/unus...-maunakea/