NASA’s IXPE has become the first observatory to measure a white dwarf star. It used its X-Ray polarization to reveal the findings that revolved around the formation of matter within the binary system.
Illustration depicts dark matter halo surrounding a spiral galaxy, highlighting cosmic structure
Photo Credit: NASA
The historic moment has been recorded as for the first time, the scientists have implemented NASA's IXPE (Imaging X-Ray Polarization Explorer), to study a white dwarf star. This space observant used its unique X-Ray Polarization capability to measure the star that further changed the dynamics of astrophysics. It closely examined the Ex Hydrae, a binary system, and exemplified the behavior of the matter under the extreme conditions. Significantly, this research and its findings have definitely opened a doorway to understanding the geometry of binary systems into detail.
According to a paper published in the Astrophysical Journal, in 2024, IXPE spent a duration of nearly a week, where it observed Ex Hydrae, a white dwarf star that is located at a distance of about 200-light years away from the Earth. The research was undertaken by the researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in collaboration with European and other US institutions.
A white dwarf is formed out of the exhaustion caused due to the lack of hydrogen fuel. However, it is non-explosive, and what remains after is stellar remnant, as equal as the size of Earth and mass as equal to that of the sun.
Within a binary system, a white dwarf nestles with a sequence companion star that ensures the continuous flow of the gas. Furthermore, the accretion process of the white dwarf depends entirely upon the strength of its magnetic field. However, the magnetic field of Ex Hydrae is not strong enough to hold, but the mass that keeps adding to its accretion disk, makes it fall under the category of the “intermediate polars”. As a result, the the disk is guided towards the magnetic poles, which leads to heating of millions of degrees, and form immense gases, in turn, making them a potential target of IXPE.
As stated by the researchers, “the IXPE's polarimetry capability enabled the measurement of the accreting column from the white dwarf star, with uninterrupted assumptions and calculations.” These X-rays will further help the scientists to learn and understand other binary systems.
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