Rare Star System Emits Radio Signals Every 8 Minutes

Key Points:

• Astronomers using the Murchison Widefield Array in Australia detected a mysterious radio signal, GPM J071507−114153, pulsing every eight minutes, identified as a long-period transient from late 2024 to September 2025.
• The signal is attributed to a binary star system with a white dwarf and a Sun-like G-type star, marking the first detection of radio pulses from a white dwarf orbiting a G-type star rather than a red dwarf.
• Long-period transients, a recently studied category of space signals with much longer pulsation periods than pulsars, have been linked primarily to binary systems involving white dwarfs and red dwarfs, but this discovery expands understanding to include Sun-like star companions.
• The clear pulses allowed astronomers to observe the white dwarf's orbital movement and detect stellar flares on its companion star, confirmed by optical observations with the Keck Observatory.
• This breakthrough suggests that future detections of long-period transients could help identify white dwarfs that are otherwise hidden from traditional observational methods.