A puzzling, fast-spinning white dwarf with emission

An artist’s impression of a strongly magnetic white dwarf (credit ESO/L. Calçada).

In May 2020, collaborators led by PhD student Josh Reding at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill published in The Astrophysical Journal the fastest-rotating, isolated white dwarf. The star spins on its axis every 317 seconds, and is only the second white dwarf to show Balmer emission lines — the origin of this emission is still puzzling, and could be connected to the induction of a current from a close-in rocky planet. A thread detailing this highly magnetic stellar remnant is here: https://twitter.com/jotajotahermes/status/1242792338751205376

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