Two white dwarfs orbit each other every 6.2 minutes
Two white dwarfs trade positions every 374 seconds, completing an orbit in 6.2 minutes. The system, eRASSU J0608, sits toward the Large Magellanic Cloud and was first identified by the eROSITA telescope. Material pulled from one star strikes the other directly, producing a sharp X-ray pulse on each orbit. Observations spanning about 3.5 years with NICER and additional data from Einstein Probe and XMM‑Newton reveal the orbit is shrinking faster than in two previously known similar systems. The rapid decline points to energy loss through gravitational waves.
Astronomers building the LISA space observatory get a clear target for testing gravitational wave predictions.
Source: Two Dead Stars Are Racing Around Each Other Every 6.2 Minutes (scitechdaily.com).
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