Two white dwarfs, remnants of stars that have used up all their fuel, are orbiting each other in a death grip and will eventually merge, says a scientist using the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
According to US space agency NASA, data indicate that gravitational waves are carrying energy away from the star system at a prodigious rate, "making it a prime candidate for future missions designed to directly detect these ripples in space-time".
The system observed by Tod Strohmayer of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre, Greenbelt, Maryland, is known as RX J0806.3+1527 or J0806.
According to a paper presented by him at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Minneapolis, the white dwarf pair in J0806 might have the smallest orbit of any known binary system. The stars are only about 50,000 miles (80,000 km) apart, which is one-fifth the distance between the Earth and the Moon.
"If confirmed, J0806 could be one of the brightest sources of gravitational waves in our galaxy," Strohmayer was quoted as saying in a formal announcement.
"It could be among the first to be directly detected with an upcoming space mission called LISA, the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna," he added.
White dwarfs along with neutron stars and black holes are extremely dense and pack a huge amount of mass in a small volume. Each of the white dwarfs in question, for instance, has an estimated mass of one-half the sun, yet are only about the size of the Earth.
The Chandra X-ray Observatory is named after Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, a Nobel Prize winning physicist of Indian origin who in 1930 first came up with a mathematical formula describing what turned out to be black holes. Chandra, as he was popular known, was also known for his work on white dwarfs.
US daily calls for sustaining pressure on Musharraf
Publish Date : 3/2/2007 7:07:00 AM
With the Bush administration reportedly sending a tough message to Pakistan that US aid would be cut if it did not rein in Al Qaeda militants, a leading American daily has called for sustaining the pressure on President Pervez Musharraf .....
'Most US intelligence on Iran inaccurate'
Publish Date : 2/26/2007 9:01:00 AM
Most US intelligence on Iran shared with the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency has proved inaccurate and none has led to significant discoveries inside the country, diplomats at the IAEA have said.
UN praises India's all-female police unit deployed in Liberia
Publish Date : 2/26/2007 8:58:00 AM
The all-female police unit from India serving in Liberia has come in for high praise for its work in the peacekeeping mission from the United Nations envoy in the country.
Pentagon continuing with its "intensive planning" on Iran:rept
Publish Date : 2/26/2007 8:37:00 AM
The Pentagon is continuing its "intensive planning" for a possible bombing attack on Iran, a process that began last year at the instance of President George W Bush as Washington is focussing on Shiite Tehran in a shift .....
Nuclear terrorism a matter of time: James Goodby
Publish Date : 2/5/2007 8:40:00 AM
Accusing the Bush administration of not giving nuclear terrorism the highest priority in national goals, a former US diplomat has warned that it was only a matter of time before a terrorist organization detonated an atom bomb in an American city.
Penelope Cruz to star in new Woody Allen film
Publish Date : 2/3/2007 10:28:00 AM
Oscar-nominated Spanish actress Penelope Cruz is to star in the new Woody Allen film, to be shot this summer in Barcelona, newspaper El Pais reported on Friday.
Bush administration seeks $245B for wars
Publish Date : 2/3/2007 10:19:00 AM
The Bush administration will ask for another $100 billion for military and diplomatic operations in Iraq and Afghanistan this year and seek $145 billion for 2008, a senior administration official said Friday.
Thousands rally against Bush's Iraq war
Publish Date : 1/29/2007 8:41:00 AM
Thousands of protestors, including Hollywood stars and civil rights leaders, came out on to the streets here opposing the war in Iraq ahead of a crucial debate and vote in the US Senate on the issue.
Arms Pact violation by Israel to figure in Congress
Publish Date : 1/29/2007 8:35:00 AM
Israel's alleged violation of an arms pact with America by unleashing US-made cluster bombs into civilian-inhabited areas of south Lebanon will come up for a debate in the Congress tomorrow, with even the prospect of sanctions against Jerusalem.
No Pakistan, it's Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan in Bush's speech
Publish Date : 1/25/2007 8:19:00 AM
The State of the Union address by US President George W Bush was dominated by war on Iraq and US' present policy to justify it, in spite of the growing realisation that US marines positioned there have been entangled in a dangerous quagmire.
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