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Space

Science

Robert Lea

Missing link star? Why this 'teenage vampire' white dwarf has scientists so excited

(Inset) an illustration of a white dwarf. (Main top) Gaia22ayj seen in X-rays and visible light (Main bottom) Images of Gaia22ayj taken by ZTF.

Astronomers have discovered the "missing link" connecting the death of sunlike stars to the birth of white dwarf stellar remnants, in the form of a "teenage vampire" white dwarf.

This vampire isn't interested in the blood that runs through your veins, though. The white dwarf in question, designated Gaia22ayj and located around 8,150 light-years from Earth, is ravenously feeding on stellar plasma from a companion star.

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