Intrepid White Dwarf Dances Near Massive Black Hole in Stunning Encounter

Washington: Scientists have made a fascinating discovery. They found a white dwarf, which is like a stellar ember, orbiting a supermassive black hole. This black hole is located in a galaxy about 270 million light-years away from us.

Using the European Space Agency’s XMM-Newton telescope, researchers noticed X-ray flashes coming from the white dwarf. It seems to be getting closer to the black hole, but instead of spiraling in, it’s managed to stabilize its orbit.

Megan Masterson, a doctoral student at MIT, mentioned that this is likely the closest object ever observed around a supermassive black hole. The black hole in question is about a million times heavier than our sun, which is pretty mind-blowing.

White dwarfs are remnants of stars that have burned out. They’re not as dense as black holes but are still incredibly compact. This particular white dwarf is about 10% the mass of our sun and is zipping around at nearly half the speed of light.

Interestingly, the flashes of X-rays it emits have been changing. They started off occurring every 18 minutes but then sped up to every seven minutes before stabilizing. Researchers think the outer layers of the white dwarf might be getting pulled into the black hole, which could be helping it avoid a complete plunge into oblivion.

Future observatories like NASA’s LISA might help confirm the nature of this white dwarf. It’s exciting to think about the potential discoveries that await us in the cosmos!