A unique discovery. Two white dwarfs disturb space-time, heading for their destruction

Astronomers have discovered two white dwarfs orbiting a common center of mass and emitting gravitational waves.

White dwarfs are the remnants of sun-like stars that have already run out of fuel. For many years, scientists have suspected that in space there must be binary systems consisting of two white dwarfs. According to the General Theory of Relativity (OTW) developed by Albert Einstein, two objects of this type circling each other should emit energy in the form of gravitational waves, the so-called space-time wrinkles.

Now astronomers have discovered not so much gravitational waves, but a binary system that can be the source of such waves. It will not only allow us to broaden our knowledge of such systems and sources of gravitational waves, but above all will allow us to check the performance of the instrument that will be sent to space in 2034.

LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) is a gravitational wave observatory that will be tested on the J2322 + 0509 system. Thanks to the fact that astronomers have already discovered it, it will be possible to check whether LISA will be able to see it as well.

Such verification binary systems are extremely important because LISA will be able to see them in the first few weeks after commissioning - says Mukuemin Kilic, co-author of the study from the University of Oklahoma. We have only found a few such objects so far. The discovery of the first prototype of a new class of binary verification systems significantly accelerates new discoveries.

In the latest scientific article describing the discovery and characteristics of this binary system, researchers from the Astrophysics Center at Harvard discovered - for the first time - a system consisting of two white dwarfs (helium star nuclei) in which both components are separated from each other. Both white dwarfs orbit around 1201 seconds (less than 20 minutes) and are the first identified source of gravitational waves of this type so far.

The binary system discovered by researchers has the third shortest orbital period of all known disjoint binary systems, and its discovery was not an easy task.

We could not detect his photometric signal because it simply does not exist. Instead, we used spectroscopic methods that allow us to observe the interaction of matter with electromagnetic radiation. As a result, we were able to discover the orbital movement of the stars.

Although it was difficult to discover this system, theoretical calculations clearly show that it must be an extremely strong source of gravitational waves. Astronomers were able to determine that due to their location relative to Earth, the instruments should register a signal 2.5 times stronger than the same system, but arranged differently relative to Earth.

It is worth adding that this binary system will not become a binary system forever, precisely because of the gravitational waves that scientists hope to detect soon. By emitting gravitational waves, the system of both dwarfs loses energy, due to which both components approach each other. According to calculations, in 6-7 million years both components will combine with each other and one, much more massive white dwarf will be created.

A unique discovery. Two white dwarfs disturb space-time, heading for their destruction