Overview

• Astronomers discovered that the long-period radio transient ILTJ1101+5521 originates from a binary system consisting of a red dwarf and a white dwarf star.
• The radio pulses repeat every 125 minutes, an unusually slow period that defies the behavior of traditional neutron star pulsars.
• The white dwarf’s interaction with the red dwarf, possibly through synchronized magnetic fields, is suspected to generate the bright radio emissions, though the exact mechanism remains unclear.
• This finding builds on previous detections of similar systems, suggesting that some long-period radio transients are linked to white dwarf binaries rather than neutron stars.
• Researchers emphasize the need for further observations and data to understand the diversity of these signals and their underlying causes.