2026-01-12 10:03 UTC
1/2 Astronomers surprised by mysterious shock wave around dead star 😲
As it moves and interacts with the interstellar gas, a white dwarf observed by our VLT creates a type of shock wave called a bow shock — a curved arc of material, similar to the wave that builds up in front of a ship.
None of the known mechanisms can fully explain the observations.
https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2601/
📷 ESO/K. Ilkiewicz and S. Scaringi et al.
#astrodon #astronomy #astrophysics #space #science
Replies (2)
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@esoastronomy@mastodon.social 2026-01-12 10:03
2/2 The white dwarf is stealing material from a companion star. In other binary systems, this material forms a disc around the dwarf, and winds blowing out from the disc can create a bow shock. But this system has no signs of a disc. The white dwarf has a strong magnetic field, but it can only power the bow shock for a few hundred years. The shape and size of the shock indicates it's been there for more than 1000 years, so we are still missing some hidden energy source.
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@emptyful@social.lol 2026-01-12 13:48
@esoastronomy@mastodon.social I made a design a few years ago titled “Bow Shock.” Yours is prettier.