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A Zombie Star Blows A Magnetic Wind

January 12, 2026
A Zombie Star Blows A Magnetic Wind
By Evan Gough (https://ift.tt/c0as3fn)

This image from the MUSE instrument on the ESO's Very Large Telescope shows the unexpected bow shock around a white dwarf star. Bow shocks are created by stellar winds colliding with the interstellar medium or by a star moving through the ISM. But finding one near a dead white dwarf stars is surprising. Is the white dwarf's magnetic field responsible? Image Credit: ESO/K. IÅ‚kiewicz and S. Scaringi et al. Background: PanSTARRS. CC 4.0

Gas and dust flowing from stars can, under the right conditions, clash with a star's surroundings and create a shock wave. Now, astronomers using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT) have imaged a beautiful shock wave around a dead star—a discovery that has left them puzzled. According to all known mechanisms, the small, dead star RXJ0528+2838 should not have such a structure around it. This discovery, as enigmatic as it's stunning, challenges our understanding of how dead stars interact with their surroundings.



January 13, 2026 at 01:08AM
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