In a recent discovery, astronomers have found a unique white dwarf star named Janus that blinks every 15 minutes due to having one hemisphere made of helium and the other of hydrogen. This phenomenon has yet to be explained by scientists. White dwarf stars are the extremely dense remnants of normal stars, and they slowly cool over billions of years. However, all previously discovered white dwarf stars have a very low and constant luminosity. Janus, on the other hand, has two “faces” and blinks due to its dual composition.
The discovery was made by astronomers using the Zwicky Transient Facility at the Mount Palomar Observatory in California. Janus was found to have one hemisphere made of helium and the other of hydrogen, causing the star to blink every 15 minutes. This is an unusual pattern for white dwarf stars, which typically have a surface dominated by either hydrogen or helium. The researchers used the Gran Telescopio Canarias on La Palma in the Canary Islands and one of the Keck telescopes in Hawaii to conduct detailed investigations of Janus. They also used spectrometers to identify the chemical elements present in the star’s surface.
The scientists postulate that Janus may be a white dwarf star in the exact moment of a transition process. However, they are still unsure why this transition is occurring unevenly on the two hemispheres of the star. The researchers speculate that magnetic fields could be playing a crucial role in this phenomenon. They hope to discover more white dwarf stars with similar dual surfaces using the Zwicky Transient Facility to gain further insights into this unique phenomenon.
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