Binary White Dwarf Star System (IMAGE)

Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian

Binary White Dwarf Star System

Caption

The binary star system J0923+3028 consists of two white dwarfs: a visible star weighing 23 percent as much as our Sun and about four times the diameter of Earth, and an unseen companion weighing 44 percent of the Sun and about one Earth-diameter in size. The stars are currently separated by about 220,000 miles and orbit each other once per hour. The stars will spiral in toward each other and merge in about 100 million years.

Credit

Clayton Ellis (CfA)

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