When white dwarf stars take too much matter from their companions, it inevitably causes them to explode in a supernova and disappear.. Scientists have found that a white dwarf with the fastest rotation around its axis among all similar stars in the Universe will explode in a supernova relatively soon by cosmic standards.. The study was published on the arXiv preprint server, writes Space.

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White dwarf called RX J0648. 0–4418 is part of a binary star system that also contains the star HD 49798. The binary system is located 1,700 light-years away in our Milky Way galaxy.

RX J0648. 0–4418 has a mass that is approximately 1.2 times the mass of the Sun and is the fastest rotating white dwarf known in the Universe. The white dwarf makes one revolution around its axis in 13 seconds.. The neighboring star HD 49798 has a mass that is 1.5 times the mass of the Sun.

White dwarfs are born when stars similar to the Sun die, shed their outer layers, and are left with a massive and very dense object.. The sun will turn into a white dwarf in about 5 billion years. Some white dwarfs are born in binary star systems and continue their lives by sucking matter from their companions like vampires. This attraction of matter may contribute to the rapid increase in the rotation speed of white dwarfs.

But the rotation of RX J0648. 0–4418 is so fast that it cannot be explained solely by the absorption of matter from a neighboring star. The authors of the study found that the rapid rotation is due to the fact that this white dwarf is compressed. Scientists have also found that this vampire star, which exists for several million years, will live for a relatively short period of time by cosmic standards..

RX J0648. 0–4418 is not only the fastest spinning white dwarf known, it is also one of the most massive such stars ever seen.. Most white dwarfs are about 0.6 solar masses, but RX J0648. 0–4418 is 2 times more massive. When, due to the accumulation of mass that it receives from a neighboring star, it gains a mass 1.4 times greater than that of the Sun, it will inevitably explode as a supernova and disappear. Scientists' calculations show that this will happen in about 100,000 years.

Although the destruction of this white dwarf may occur much earlier, because the rate of attraction of matter from the companion star will increase as the latter evolves. The star HD 49798 will grow in size and more matter will fall onto the white dwarf.

Scientists say this binary star system is also unusual in that it is the only X-ray binary star in which a white dwarf takes matter from a relatively small star.. Such binary systems are very rare.

As Focus already wrote, scientists may no longer see the Universe, and the threat to astronomy is in Chile. A future industrial megaproject could deprive scientists of the ability to conduct space observations.

Focus also wrote that the study of a massive black hole in a distant galaxy made it possible to find out that it is possible to take not only clear images, but also videos of such objects.