The historic moment has been recorded as for the first time scientists have applied NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarization Explorer) to study a white dwarf star. This space observer used its unique X-ray polarization capability to measure the star in a way that further changed the dynamics of astrophysics.
It closely examined X Hydrae, a binary system, and illustrated the behavior of matter under extreme conditions. It is noteworthy that this research and its findings have definitely opened the door to understanding the geometry of binary systems in detail. Exploring Binary Systems in a Fresh Perspective According to a paper published in the Astrophysical Journal, in 2024, IXPE spent a period of about a week where it observed X Hydra, a white dwarf star located about 200-light years from Earth.
The research was conducted by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in collaboration with European and other American institutions. The exhaustion caused by the lack of hydrogen fuel leads to the formation of a white dwarf.
However, it is non-explosive, and what is left in its wake is a stellar remnant, about the size of Earth and the mass of the Sun. Understanding the Science of Accretion Within a binary system, a white dwarf coalesces with a sequence companion star that ensures a continuous flow of gas. Furthermore, the white dwarf’s accretion process depends entirely on the strength of its magnetic field.
However, the magnetic field of X Hydra is not strong enough to hold, but the mass that continues to be added to its accretion disk brings it into the category of “intermediate poles”. As a result, the disk is directed toward the magnetic poles, causing millions of degrees of heating, and gas giants are formed, making them a potential target of IXPE. As the researchers say, “IXPE’s polarimetry capability enabled the measurement of the rising column from the white dwarf star, with seamless assumptions and calculations.
” These X-rays will further help scientists learn and understand other binary systems.