Measuring stellar ages is difficult, so sometimes we need to resort to using indirect estimates. In today’s paper, we will see how to calibrate a cosmic clock for cool stars and, as a bonus, discover that the activity of these stars may decline faster than we previously thought.
When Kepler looks at Neptune, it sees the Sun oscillate.
Nearly a year ago, Astrobites reported on an unexpected finding from the Kepler spacecraft: A pair of white dwarfs that were “outbursting”, becoming as much as 20 percent brighter every few days before quieting down again. Today’s paper adds another two outbursting white dwarfs, and begins to explore the reason for this hitherto unobserved behavior.
This variable white dwarf pulsates as expected, but it also experiences very bright outbursts. Today’s paper takes us through the discovery and verification of the second pulsating white dwarf with outbursts, and speculates how the pulsations and outbursts may be linked.
The Hyades underpins our understanding of stellar ages. If its age is wrong then a lot of other ages are wrong too…
The recent discovery of two pulsating, compact stellar remnants intertwined in a binary system has uncovered a system never-before observed in our Universe, and will offer new avenues for studying the exotic objects involved.