Astronomers Trace Eight-Minute Radio Bursts to White Dwarf and Sun-Like Star

Astronomers have traced a repeating radio signal that flashes every eight minutes to a rare star system containing a <b>white dwarf and a star like the Sun</b>. The findings, published in Nature Astronomy, identify a new source for a long-period radio transient. These objects produce bright radio flashes at intervals ranging from a few minutes to a few hours. Astronomers have studied the signals since 2022. Earlier examples were linked to systems involving a red dwarf and a white dwarf. Researchers had also considered whether the flashes came from unusually slow-spinning neutron stars, but said such stars should not produce radio waves at that speed.