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NASA spacecraft monitors a historical event of a “restart” process in space

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For the first time in history, astronomers observed a very strange phenomenon, as a white dwarf made a sudden movement observed by satellite lenses.

NASA’s Transplanetary Spacecraft (TESS) has recorded what can be described as historic and exciting moments of changing the state of a white dwarf for the first time in history.
Strange movement of a white dwarf recorded for the first time in history

The (TESS) spacecraft is searching in far space for new, undiscovered Earth-like worlds, but it has spotted a white dwarf suddenly extinguishing and then igniting again.

This unique condition was first observed in a star called TW Pictoris, which is about 1,400 light-years away from Earth.

According to the “space” website, which specializes in space sciences, this important observation is the first time that astronomers have seen a white dwarf that changes its brightness in a strange way, as the star changed its original brightness very quickly.
Accumulation process: when a white dwarf devours its neighbor

Scientists consider this event to be a very important indicator that may have a significant impact on the nature of our understanding of the accretion process (or building materials) in many types of celestial bodies.

It is worth noting, that white dwarfs are the remnants of large stars about the size of the planet, which burned all the hydrogen that fed them earlier.

Astronomers consider that the study of white dwarf systems helps us learn about the distant future of our solar system, when the sun will run out of hydrogen about 5 billion years from now.

The change in brightness usually occurs in white dwarfs when the star pulls material from a nearby star, in a process known as accretion, where the white dwarf “feeds” on its companion or neighbor, growing and becoming brighter.
According to the research paper published in the scientific journal “Nature”, the white dwarf lost its brightness for only 30 minutes, which is much faster than the periods taken by other white dwarfs that fade over several days or months. Where the main reason for the high speed is still unknown, but scientists speculate that this may have occurred due to large fluctuations in the magnetic field of the dwarf.

“The brightness of the accumulating white dwarf is affected by the amount of surrounding material it is feeding on, so the researchers say something is interfering with its food supply,” Durham University, which led the research, said in a statement.
A never-before-seen speed of a “reboot” process

“They (the researchers) hope this discovery will help them learn more about the physics behind the accretion process, in which objects such as black holes, white dwarfs and neutron stars feed on surrounding material from neighboring stars,” the statement continued.

“Seeing the brightness of (TW Pictoris) dropping in 30 minutes is in itself unusual because it has not been seen in other white dwarfs and is completely unexpected,” lead author and astronomer at Durham University Simon Scaringi said in the statement.

The researchers hypothesized that when the star is “on”, the white dwarf is feeding from the accretion disk as expected. But when the star turns off, the magnetic field rotates very quickly, allowing material from the companion star to settle on the white dwarf.

The researchers noted that this process may create a barrier due to the centrifugal force that prevents materials from falling on the white dwarf, called the “magnetic gate”. For reasons unknown under study, the white dwarf system resets itself and performs a “reboot” again, contributing to an increase in luminosity.

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