Plate Nº 32 · recorded November 15, 2026
Space & AstronomyReported finding
Eight-Minute Radio Flashes Traced to a Dead Star and Its Sun-Like Partner
A radio signal flashing every eight minutes comes from a white dwarf orbiting a Sun-like star, astronomers report in Nature Astronomy — a first for this signal class.
By Elena Vasquez3 min read630 words
In brief
- Astronomers recorded 214 radio pulses between December 2024 and September 2025, arriving about every 8 minutes.
- The signal, GPM J071507−114153, was traced to a white dwarf orbiting a Sun-like G-type star — a first for long-period transients.
- The findings were published in Nature Astronomy on November 12, 2026.
- The detection was made with Australia's Murchison Widefield Array radio telescope.
- Researchers also detected stellar flares from the Sun-like companion by studying the radio signals' path through its magnetic environment.
A mysterious radio signal that flashes through space every eight minutes now has a likely source: a dead star locked in an unusual orbital partnership with a star much like our Sun. Astronomers traced the signal, catalogued as GPM J071507−114153, to a binary system containing a white dwarf paired with a G-type star. The findings appeared in Nature Astronomy on November 12, 2026.
The discovery matters because it is the first evidence connecting a long-period radio transient to a white dwarf with a Sun-like companion. Until now, similar systems astronomers had found mostly involved white dwarfs orbiting smaller, cooler red dwarf stars.
What is this strange signal?
The object belongs to a rare category called long-period transients, or LPTs. These cosmic sources fire off powerful radio bursts at intervals ranging from minutes to hours. They differ sharply from fast radio bursts, which flash for mere milliseconds and vanish. Long-period transients repeat on a slow, steady clock.
This one keeps very good time. Researchers using Australia's Murchison Widefield Array radio telescope recorded 214 pulses between December 2024 and September 2025, arriving roughly every eight minutes. That unusually regular rhythm gave scientists the clues they needed to pin down the source.
How did astronomers crack the case?
A white dwarf is the dense leftover core of a star that has burned through its nuclear fuel. In this system, that stellar remnant orbits a G-type star — the same class as our Sun.
By analysing extensive radio observations, the team identified the white dwarf's orbital motion around its companion. That motion, visible in the radio data, let them determine where the bursts come from. Their findings suggest the radio emissions originate near the white dwarf, or directly from it.
The white dwarf, in short, is the prime suspect. The eight-minute cadence matches the rhythm of the system's behaviour rather than the pattern typical of other candidate sources.
Why does a Sun-like companion matter?
Previous white-dwarf systems linked to radio signals involved red dwarfs — small, feisty stars prone to flares. A G-type star changes the picture. It shows these repeating radio signals can arise in stellar partnerships that look more like our own cosmic neighbourhood.
The companion also gave researchers a bonus. By studying how the radio signals travelled through the star's surrounding magnetic environment, the team detected stellar flares from the Sun-like star. In plain terms: the radio signal doubled as a probe of another star's activity.
What could this discovery unlock?
The findings offer astronomers a valuable new way to investigate distant stars. Because the radio emissions carry information about the magnetic environment they pass through, similar systems could serve as natural instruments for studying stellar flares and magnetic fields far beyond the solar system.
The results also add fresh evidence that white dwarfs may drive some of the mysterious repeating radio signals that have puzzled astronomers for years. Long-period transients have challenged researchers since the category emerged, and this system gives them a concrete mechanism to test.
Future observations could reveal whether similar stellar partnerships are hiding elsewhere in our galaxy. Astronomers will likely comb existing radio surveys for signals with comparable eight-minute-scale rhythms.
There are caveats. The researchers describe the white dwarf as the likely, not certain, origin of the bursts, and one system cannot explain every long-period transient. Still, the case is the strongest yet for a white dwarf with a Sun-like partner. Dead stars, it seems, can still make plenty of noise.
The takeaway: a dead star circling a Sun-like twin appears to fire a radio flash every eight minutes, giving astronomers both an answer to one mystery and a new tool for studying the stars.
via industrytap.com (Source)
More from Elena Vasquez
Show full bio
Correspondent covering money, funding and market shifts around general science news at SciBeat.
438 articles
Nearby plates
- Radio Pulses Every 7.9 Minutes Trace Storms on a Sun-Like Star
- Zombie Star Pulses Every 7.9 Minutes, and a Sun-Like Star May Be Why
- Dead Star Fires Radio Pulse Every Eight Minutes, and a Sun-Like Star Answers
- Dead Star Pulses Every Eight Minutes, and Astronomers Are Puzzled
- Eight-Minute Radio Pulse Traced to White Dwarf 5,000 Light-Years Away