Overview

• ESO’s Very Large Telescope X-Shooter spectroscopy measures a roughly 12.3-hour orbit and detects a circum-binary gas ring interpreted as debris from intense mass transfer.
• The white dwarf is pulling matter from a larger companion at an unusually high rate, sustaining thermonuclear burning on its surface that explains the system’s exceptional luminosity.
• Researchers say the accumulating material is likely to trigger a nova in the coming years, potentially visible to the naked eye from about 10,000 light-years away.
• Longer-term scenarios outlined by the team suggest the stars are spiraling closer and could eventually produce an exceptionally bright explosion, possibly even a daytime-visible supernova.
• The international team led by Dr. Pasi Hakala, with contributors including Professor Phil Charles and Dr. Pablo Rodríguez-Gil, has posted the study on arXiv with publication accepted by MNRAS.