SDSS J133725.26+395237.7 may not say anything for you, but for astronomers, finding one is a remarkable achievement. We’re talking about a new peculiar binary, a space object that consists of two white dwarfs. An international team of astronomers is responsible for finding the binary, and Phys.org brought the news about the discovery.
A team of researchers led by Vedant Chandra of Johns Hopkins University from Baltimore (Mayland) reveals the discovery of the SDSS J1337+3952 object (or SDSS J133725.26+395237.7). Data provided by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-V) was crucial for the discovery.
SDSS J1337+3952 is 368 light-years away from Earth
SDSS J1337+3952 is located far enough for us so that we’ll never be able to go there using our current technology. The object is placed roughly 368 light-years away from us, and it has an orbital period of only 99 minutes.
An official statement says:
We identified SDSS J1337+3952 during a systematic search for RV [radial velocity] variable systems in the first year of SDSS-V.
White dwarfs are truly remarkable cosmic objects. Despite the fact that they possess features that make them have tremendous gravity, it was recently discovered that these objects can slow down their own rate of aging via hydrogen burning.
The gravity we feel on Earth seems perfect for us. But the one of a white dwarf is roughly 350,000 times stronger. This means that going anywhere near a white dwarf is something to avoid at all cost, as the huge gravity would instantly destroy anyone.
However, even the gravity of Earth can be too much for us sometimes, excluding those situations if we fall into a pit. Some astronauts have trouble readapting to Earth’s gravity after they engage in space journeys.
