Astronomers have discovered a rare and tightly bound binary star system consisting of two white dwarf stars, located 150 light-years from Earth. The pair is on a collision course, destined to explode in a Type 1a supernova, which will outshine the moon by up to ten times.
This binary system is significant as it marks the first confirmed observation of its kind in our galaxy. According to researchers at the University of Warwick, the proximity of the two stars (separated by just 1/60th of the Earth-Sun distance) will result in their catastrophic collision.
Type 1a supernovae are known for their predictable luminosity and play a crucial role in measuring cosmic distances. The explosion of this binary system is expected to be particularly bright, estimated to be ten times more luminous than the moon.
The discovery was made by James Munday, a PhD researcher at Warwick University, who spotted the system with a very high total mass on our Galactic doorstep. A team of international astronomers immediately began observing the system using powerful optical telescopes.
Their observations revealed that the two stars are on a collision course, with their masses combining to form the heaviest double white dwarf system ever discovered, weighing in at 1.56 times the mass of our Sun. The supernova is expected to occur approximately 23 billion years from now, far beyond the span of human existence.
While the system poses no danger to Earth, the observation provides rare insight into a binary system on the brink of a distant explosion, offering a valuable window into the long-term evolution of stellar remnants.
Source: https://dailygalaxy.com/2025/04/two-dead-stars-are-set-to-explode