Archive · 11 Aug 2026
Indian-Led Study Finds One of Fastest Shrinking Star Systems Yet
When big stars like our Sun run out of fuel, they turn into small, super-dense 'dead' stars called white dwarfs.
Some white dwarfs come in pairs that circle around each other in space.
Scientists from India and other countries found a pair of white dwarfs moving around each other very closely.
This star system has one of the fastest-shrinking orbits ever found.
The two dead stars are getting closer and closer at record speed.
The orbit shrinks because the system loses energy in the form of gravitational waves.
Gravitational waves are like ripples in the fabric of space.
The scientists used space telescopes, including NASA's NICER and the Chinese-led Einstein Probe, to make their observations.
Their work was published in a science journal called The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
An Indian-led international team discovered a pair of white dwarfs spiralling towards each other at record speed.
The dead stars are locked in an extraordinarily tight orbit that is shrinking fast.
The shrinking orbit indicates the system is radiating away energy as gravitational waves.
Observations came from the Chinese-led Einstein Probe mission and NASA's NICER telescope.
The study, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, was led by Dr Rahul Sharma and Prof Chandreyee Maitra of the International Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics in Pune.
- Who
- An international team led by Indian astronomers, including Dr Rahul Sharma and Prof Chandreyee Maitra of the International Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics in Pune, India.
- What
- Found a pair of white dwarfs locked in an extraordinarily tight orbit that is shrinking at record speed — one of the fastest-shrinking star systems yet found.
- When
- The study was recently published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters; no specific date was given.
- Where
- Research led from Pune, India, using observations from the Einstein Probe mission and NASA's NICER telescope in space.
- Why
- The rapidly shrinking orbit indicates the system is radiating away energy as gravitational waves.
- Object of study
- A pair of white dwarfs, the dense dead cores left behind when stars like the Sun run out of fuel
- Discovery
- One of the fastest-shrinking star systems yet found
- Significance
- Shrinking orbit signals the system is radiating energy as gravitational waves
- Telescopes used
- Chinese-led Einstein Probe mission and NASA's NICER telescope
- Lead researchers
- Dr Rahul Sharma and Prof Chandreyee Maitra
- Lead institution
- International Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune, India
- Publication
- The Astrophysical Journal Letters