An artist's concept shows a stream of matter trails a white dwarf (sphere at lower right) orbiting within the innermost accretion disk surrounding a supermassive black hole. Astronomers developed this scenario to explain the evolution of rapid X-ray oscillations detected by European Space Agency's XMM-Newton satellite, in this image released on Jan. 13, 2025. NASA/Aurore Simonnet, Sonoma State University/Handout via Reuters
WASHINGTON—Scientists have detected emanating from the nucleus of a galaxy relatively close to our Milky Way flashes of X-rays gradually increasing in frequency that seem to be coming from a white dwarf—a highly compact stellar ember—with a death wish.
The observations made using the European Space Agency’s XMM-Newton orbiting X-ray telescope appear to show a white dwarf nearing the point of no return—called the event horizon—as it orbits the galaxy’s supermassive black hole, according to the researchers.
