The Einstein Probe telescope has made a groundbreaking discovery by detecting a binary star system consuming matter in the Small Magellanic Cloud. The initial clue was an unexpected X-ray flash observed by the telescope's Wide-field X-ray Telescope. Follow-up investigations by NASA and the European Space Agency confirmed the presence of a Be star and a white dwarf orbiting each other, indicating a fascinating interaction. This discovery sheds light on stellar evolution and the life cycles of massive stars, enhancing our understanding of celestial phenomena.
We soon understood that we were dealing with a rare discovery of a very elusive celestial couple. The unusual duo consists of a massive star that we call a Be star, weighing 12 times the Sun, and a stellar 'corpse' known as a white dwarf.
The first clue that led to this discovery was an X-ray flash emanating from the Small Magellanic Cloud, around 200,000 light years from Earth.
The Einstein Probe's Wide-field X-ray Telescope (WXT) uses a novel design known as a lobster eye that can scan 3,600 square degrees simultaneously using 432 micro-pore optic (MPO) sensors.
NASA shifted its Swift and NICER X-ray instruments to study that region as well. 18 days later, the European Space Agency added its XMM-Newton x-ray 'scope to the search.
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