White Dwarf's Dance: A Cosmic Close Encounter

Scientists have observed X-rays emanating from a white dwarf orbiting a supermassive black hole in a galaxy near the Milky Way. The study notes the stability of the dwarf's orbit, despite its proximity to the black hole's event horizon, presenting future detection opportunities with advanced observatories.

Researchers have identified unique X-ray patterns from a white dwarf located near the black hole within a galaxy approximately 270 million light-years away from Earth. This discovery was facilitated by the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton X-ray telescope, unveiling one of the closest observations of a white dwarf in orbit around a black hole.

Megan Masterson, a physics doctoral student at MIT, highlights the significance of this finding as the white dwarf defies the black hole's gravitational pull, maintaining a stable orbit rather than plunging towards the event horizon. Initial observations noted X-ray intervals shortening from 18 to 7 minutes over two years before stabilizing.

The white dwarf's remarkable resilience, despite shedding outer layers to the black hole, sparks hope for further analysis with NASA's future LISA project. Co-author Erin Kara expresses excitement for future discoveries concerning gravitational waves and electromagnetic emissions from such extreme cosmic environments.

(With inputs from agencies.)