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Kyoto Team Reveals Hotter White Dwarfs Could Spark Supernovae

10/16/2025

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Summary

Story summary

Kyoto University astronomers find that white dwarf binaries thought cool can reach 10,000–30,000 Kelvin due to tidal heating.
Tidal deformation of these closely orbiting stars causes internal heating.
Led by Lucy Olivia McNeill of Kyoto University, the team developed a model predicting how tidal forces affect these stars.
The findings suggest these white dwarfs may begin interacting at longer orbital periods, triggering Type Ia supernovae; work will study carbon-oxygen binaries.

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Story summary

Kyoto University astronomers find that white dwarf binaries thought cool can reach 10,000–30,000 Kelvin due to tidal heating.
Tidal deformation of these closely orbiting stars causes internal heating.
Led by Lucy Olivia McNeill of Kyoto University, the team developed a model predicting how tidal forces affect these stars.
The findings suggest these white dwarfs may begin interacting at longer orbital periods, triggering Type Ia supernovae; work will study carbon-oxygen binaries.