File:J0806 (binary star - artist's conception).jpg

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English: About 1,600 light-years away, in a binary star system fondly known as J0806, two dense white dwarf stars orbit each other once every 321 seconds. Interpreting x-ray data from the Chandra Observatory astronomers argue that the stars' already impressively short orbital period is steadily getting shorter as the stars spiral closer together. Even though they are separated by about 80,000 kilometers (the Earth-Moon distance is 400,000 kilometers) the two stars are therefore destined to merge. Depicted in this artist's vision, the death spiral of the remarkable J0806 system is a consequence of Einstein's theory of General Relativity that predicts the white dwarf stars will lose their orbital energy by generating gravity waves. In fact, J0806 could be one of the brightest sources of gravitational waves in our galaxy, directly detectable by future space-based gravity wave instruments.
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Source https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap050601.html
Author Credit: Tod Strohmayer (GSFC), CXC, NASA - Illustration: Dana Berry (CXC)

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Public domain This file is in the public domain in the United States because it was solely created by NASA. NASA copyright policy states that "NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted". (See Template:PD-USGov, NASA copyright policy page or JPL Image Use Policy.)
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01:16, 5 April 2007 2,160 × 1,440 (257,679 bytes) w:en:Vox Rationis (talk | contribs) An artist's depiction of the binary star series, [[J0806]].

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current07:28, 14 February 2015Thumbnail for version as of 07:28, 14 February 20152,160 × 1,440 (252 KB)Jcpag2012 (talk | contribs)Transferred from en.wikipedia: see original upload log above

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