(Inside Science) Astronomers have detected the fastest-spinning white dwarf star found yet one that researchers say acts like an extraordinarily powerful magnetic propeller, a new study finds.
White dwarfs are stars that have burnt up all their fuel and shed their outer layers, leaving behind their cool, dim cores. Our sun will one day become a white dwarf, as will more than 90% of the stars in the Milky Way.
A team of astronomers, led by the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom, has observed a record-breaking spin rate for a confirmed white dwarf star the size of our own planet.