A helium-burning white dwarf binary as a supersoft X-ray source.

ABSTRACT: Type Ia supernovae are cosmic distance indicators^1,2, and the main source of iron in the Universe^3,4, but their formation paths are still debated. Several dozen supersoft X-ray sources, in which a white dwarf accretes hydrogen-rich matter from a non-degenerate donor star, have been observed⁵ and suggested as Type Ia supernovae progenitors^6-9. However, observational evidence for hydrogen, which is expected to be stripped off the donor star during the supernova explosion¹⁰, is lacking. Helium-accreting white dwarfs, which would circumvent this problem, have been predicted for more than 30 years (refs. ^7,11,12), including their appearance as supersoft X-ray sources, but have so far escaped detection. Here we report a supersoft

SUBMITTER: Greiner J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10033417 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature