Astronomers find a 'cataclysmic' pair of stars with the shortest orbit yet
Published Date: 10/5/2022
Source: sciencedaily.com
Astronomers have discovered a stellar binary, or pair of stars, with an extremely short orbit, appearing to circle each other every 51 minutes. The system seems to be one of a rare class of binaries known as a 'cataclysmic variable,' in which a star similar to our sun orbits tightly around a white dwarf -- a hot, dense core of a burned-out star.