The merger of two white dwarfs can end with the appearance of a new neutron star

The fusion of two white dwarfs results in the formation of a new neutron star. The fusion between astronomical bodies is happening right now. Of course, it is possible that a collision between two stars will lead to a powerful explosion. And, at least, until now it was difficult to answer the question of what happens when two stars collide: do they explode or is something else going on? Observing a large white dwarf who, apparently, was the product of two small white dwarfs, can support "something else."

Star time of the end

When the stars run out of energy, their mass determines their fate. Very large stars end spectacularly, shaking themselves with a strong explosion. When star dust accumulates, it includes a neutron star or a black hole. This is the end.

Small stars end a little differently. First, they blush and swell when they run out of energy. The outer mass is dropped, leaving behind a dimly glowing corpse, known as a white dwarf. White dwarfs, being small and dull, are not the easiest thing to observe. But we know that, compared with neutron stars, they do not have huge magnetic fields, great stellar winds.
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A group of astronomers noticed a strange white dwarf named J005311. J005311 is located in the center of the nebula and it seems that very much gas is being removed from it very quickly at a speed of about 16,000 km / s.

To solve the mystery, astronomers turned to the nature of neutron stars. They are very fast outflow of gas is possible when the star is rotating rapidly. Rapid rotation generates a huge magnetic field, which, in turn, accelerates the charged particles in the gas. In this case, the star may be dull, but it needs a large magnetic field - about 10-100 times larger than usual for a white dwarf. It seems the only way to create a rapidly rotating magnetic field is to merge two white dwarfs.

J005311 above the Chandrasekhar limit, which means that it is massive enough to explode like a supernova. The alternative is that it collapses, forming a neutron star, creating a small fireball. The fact that the supernova was not born tells us that when white dwarfs collide, they do not explode. Instead, they can throw out enough material to avoid an explosion, and gently merge into a neutron star.

Models show that creating a neutron star from a large white dwarf may take several thousand years. This means that from an astronomical point of view, the merger of J005311 basically happened yesterday, and we are still waiting for the consequences.