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Nov 24, 2021

Wild ‘Propeller’ Star Smashes The Record For Fastest-Spinning White Dwarf

Posted by in category: cosmology

A dead star is spinning so rapidly, it officially has the fastest known spin rate of any star of its kind.

It’s a white dwarf star, named LAMOST J024048.51+195226.9 (J0240+1952 for short) and located 2,015 light-years away, and it has an insane rotation rate of just 25 seconds. That pips the previous record holder by a significant margin – CTCV J2056-3014, with a spin rate of 29 seconds.

It also bears a close similarity to another fast white dwarf, AE Aquarii, which has a spin rate of 33 seconds.

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