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Rare binary star system discovered emitting regular radio pulses toward Earth every ~8 minutes

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Researchers at Curtin University and the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) in Australia have announced the discovery of a rare binary star system located more than 5,000 light-years from Earth, designated GPM J071507−114,153. The system consists of a white dwarf and a Sun-like G-type star; the white dwarf rotates once every ~7.9 minutes and emits regular radio pulses toward Earth. The findings were published in Nature Astronomy. White dwarfs are dense cores left behind after stars exhaust their fuel, small in size and extremely high in density. The team first detected the signal in a Milky Way survey using Australia's Murchison Widefield Array (MWA), then located it with South Africa's MeerKAT radio telescope and confirmed via optical observations at Hawaii's Keck Observatory that its companion is a G-type star. This is the first time scientists have detected periodic radio pulses in a "white dwarf + Sun-like star" binary combination; previously known similar systems were mostly composed of a white dwarf and a smaller, cooler red dwarf, and the new result suggests the stellar combinations producing such "long-period transient" signals may be more diverse tha

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Rare Binary Star System Discovered: Regular Radio Pulses Sent Toward Earth About Every 8 Minutes

IT之家 November 13 news: A research team from Curtin University and the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) in Australia has announced the discovery of a rare binary star system more than 5,000 light-years from Earth, designated GPM J071507−114,153.

The system consists of a white dwarf and a Sun-like G-type star. The white dwarf rotates once about every 7.9 minutes and emits regular radio pulses toward Earth. The research has been published in Nature Astronomy.

White dwarfs are dense cores left behind after stars exhaust their fuel, small in size and extremely high in density. The research team first discovered the signal in a Milky Way survey using Australia's Murchison Widefield Array (MWA), then located it with South Africa's MeerKAT radio telescope, and confirmed through optical observations at Hawaii's Keck Observatory that its companion is a G-type star.

This discovery marks the first time scientists have detected periodic radio pulses in a "white dwarf + Sun-like star" binary combination. Previously known similar systems were mostly composed of a white dwarf and a smaller, cooler red dwarf; the new result indicates that the stellar combinations producing such "long-period transient" signals may be more diverse than previously understood.

After analyzing more than 100 hours of radio data, the researchers for the first time clearly observed the motion characteristics of the white dwarf orbiting its companion, thereby determining that the radio pulses come from near the white dwarf, and possibly even directly from the white dwarf itself. The team speculates that the white dwarf's strong magnetic field may accelerate charged particles from the companion star's stellar wind; when the radiation beam sweeps past Earth, it forms regular pulses like a "cosmic lighthouse."

The system belongs to the class of "long-period transients" (LPTs): such objects emit radio signals at intervals ranging from several minutes to several hours, and their physical mechanism has not yet been fully understood. This discovery not only confirms a rare binary combination, but also provides key clues for solving the mystery of the origin of mysterious periodic radio signals in the Milky Way.

  • A long-period transient with a Sun-like companion

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