Nov 24, 2021
Wild ‘Propeller’ Star Smashes The Record For Fastest-Spinning White Dwarf
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: cosmology
A dead star is spinning so rapidly, it officially has the fastest known spin rate of any star of its kind.
It’s a white dwarf star, named LAMOST J024048.51+195226.9 (J0240+1952 for short) and located 2,015 light-years away, and it has an insane rotation rate of just 25 seconds. That pips the previous record holder by a significant margin – CTCV J2056-3014, with a spin rate of 29 seconds.
It also bears a close similarity to another fast white dwarf, AE Aquarii, which has a spin rate of 33 seconds.