1. Accreting White Dwarf
This illustration depicts gas flowing from the large red, companion star into a disk and then onto the white dwarf that is hidden inside the white area. As the gas flows ever closer to the white dwarf, it gets increasingly hotter, as indicated by the change in colors from yellow to white. When a sufficient amount of gas has accumulated on the white dwarf star, it will undergo a thermonuclear explosion that will eject the outer layers of the star in a nova outburst. (Illustration: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss)
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This illustration depicts gas flowing from the large red, companion star into a disk and then onto the white dwarf that is hidden inside the white area. As the gas flows ever closer to the white dwarf, it gets increasingly hotter, as indicated by the change in colors from yellow to white. When a sufficient amount of gas has accumulated on the white dwarf star, it will undergo a thermonuclear explosion that will eject the outer layers of the star in a nova outburst. (Illustration: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss)
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2. Accreting White Dwarf
This illustration depicts gas flowing from the large red, companion star into a disk and then onto the white dwarf that is hidden inside the white area. As the gas flows ever closer to the white dwarf, it gets increasingly hotter, as indicated by the change in colors from yellow to white. When a sufficient amount of gas has accumulated on the white dwarf star, it will undergo a thermonuclear explosion that will eject the outer layers of the star in a nova outburst. (Illustration: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss)
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This illustration depicts gas flowing from the large red, companion star into a disk and then onto the white dwarf that is hidden inside the white area. As the gas flows ever closer to the white dwarf, it gets increasingly hotter, as indicated by the change in colors from yellow to white. When a sufficient amount of gas has accumulated on the white dwarf star, it will undergo a thermonuclear explosion that will eject the outer layers of the star in a nova outburst. (Illustration: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss)
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3. Illustration of Mira System
This artist's conception of the Mira star system depicts Mira A (right), a highly evolved red giant star, and Mira B (left), a white dwarf. Mira A is losing gas rapidly from its upper atmosphere via a stellar wind. Mira B exerts a gravitational tug that creates a gaseous bridge between the two stars. Gas from the wind and bridge accumulates in an accretion disk around Mira B and collisions between rapidly moving particles in the disk produce X-rays. (Credit: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss)
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This artist's conception of the Mira star system depicts Mira A (right), a highly evolved red giant star, and Mira B (left), a white dwarf. Mira A is losing gas rapidly from its upper atmosphere via a stellar wind. Mira B exerts a gravitational tug that creates a gaseous bridge between the two stars. Gas from the wind and bridge accumulates in an accretion disk around Mira B and collisions between rapidly moving particles in the disk produce X-rays. (Credit: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss)
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4. Still Illustrations of White Dwarf Gravitational Wave Merger
Two white dwarf stars, orbiting each other in a death grip and destined to merge, may be flooding space right now with gravitational waves. These waves are ripples in space-time predicted by Einstein but never detected directly. Einstein predicted that accelerating, massive objects emit gravitational waves, which propagate through space at light speed. A passing wave will cause the Earth, Moon and all matter to bob, like a buoy on the ocean, subtly altering the distance between them. (Credit: GSFC/D.Berry)
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Two white dwarf stars, orbiting each other in a death grip and destined to merge, may be flooding space right now with gravitational waves. These waves are ripples in space-time predicted by Einstein but never detected directly. Einstein predicted that accelerating, massive objects emit gravitational waves, which propagate through space at light speed. A passing wave will cause the Earth, Moon and all matter to bob, like a buoy on the ocean, subtly altering the distance between them. (Credit: GSFC/D.Berry)
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Revised: August 19, 2008