Unique eclipsing binary star system discovered
Wednesday, May 19, 2010 - 09:03
in Astronomy & Space
(PhysOrg.com) -- Astrophysicists at UC Santa Barbara are the first scientists to identify two white dwarf stars in an eclipsing binary system, allowing for the first direct radius measurement of a rare white dwarf composed of pure helium. The results will be published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. These observations are the first to confirm a theory about a certain type of white dwarf star.