Astronomers of Sheffield and Warwick Universities (United Kingdom) found what, in their opinion, is the fastest rotating white dwarf from those discovered so far. This object makes a complete revolution for record 25 seconds. The opening is reported in a press release on the Phys.org website.
Scientists for the first time set the period of rotation of the star, confirming that this is an extremely rare example of a “magnetic propeller” system: White dwarf pulls out a gas plasma from a neighboring companion star and throws it into space at a speed of about three thousand kilometers per second. This is the second magnetic propeller, discovered by more than 70 years.
Star, named Lamost J024048.51 + 195226.9 (J0240 + 1952), has the size of the Earth, but 200 thousand times are massive. Plasma, which she pulls from a companion, in the past fell on the equator at high speed, providing energy for rapid rotation of dwarf. However, at some point, the White Dwarf developed a strong magnetic field, which causes most of the plasma to repel from the star into space. The remaining part flows to the magnetic poles.
According to scientists, the rotation occurs so quickly that the White Dwarf should have a lot of above average, so as not to burst into parts.