Strange new star created by colliding white dwarfs is like nothing we ve seen before
The aftermath of a white dwarf collision shows a never-before-seen type of star in a neon green nebula. Listen - 02:14
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The central star in nebula IRAS 00500+6713 may be a new type. ESA s XMM-Newtown X-ray telescope viewed the star and nebula, which glows green in this image. ESA/XMM-Newton, L. Oskinova/Univ. Potsdam, Germany
Far, far into the future, our sun will become a white dwarf star, a dense, dead remnant of itself. There are many white dwarfs lurking out in the cosmos and, sometimes they collide. Astronomers think the merger of two white dwarfs may have produced a previously unseen type of star, a type of zombie furnace risen from the dead. When seen in X-ray light, the nebula around this new star glows an eye-popping green thanks to neon gas.
In a scenario that sounds like the opening for a “Zombies From Outer Space” movie, the European Space Agency released a photo of a never-before-seen star that was formed when two dead white dwarf stars collided – but instead of destroying each other, the white dwarfs merged into a new kind of zombie star that’s not really alive but still emitting a very bright X-ray light that’s expected to last a brief (in star time) 10,000 years before a ship can arrive and blow the zombie star’s brains out and chase down any zombie space ships it had launched.
Un nouveau type d étoile découvert dans notre galaxie futura-sciences.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from futura-sciences.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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