University of Warwick researchers have
found a unique feuding double white dwarf star system where each star
is mostly composed of helium.
Over 50 close double white dwarfs have been known but this was only the
second ever eclipsing close white dwarf pair to be found. The researchers found this star system CSS 41177 (which is over 351 parsecs , or 1140 light years, away in the constellation Leo) using a combination of data from the robotic 2m Liverpool Telescope in the Canary Islands and the 8m Gemini Telescope on Hawaii.
Astronomers Steven Parsons and Professor Tom Marsh were able to use the fact that the stars eclipse each other when seen from Earth to make particularly detailed observations of the system.
These observations revealed that uniquely both the white dwarf stars in this pairing are composed largely of helium.
Helium white dwarfs are a sure sign that the star has undergone some extreme mass loss at some point.
To find two such helium white dwarfs stars is a clear sign to astronomers that both stars have had an exotic and mutually destructive past.
The will be published in the Astrophysical Journal. (ANI)
