---
title: "An Unusual Merger Seems to Have Created a New Type of Star"
description: "After two white dwarf stars managed to merge without destroying each other, scientists say they've observed a brand new type of star."
date: "2021-01-11"
modified: "2021-01-11"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/unusual-merger-created-new-type-star"
categories:
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "Astronomy"
  - "star"
  - "the digest"
  - "white dwarf"
---

# An Unusual Merger Seems to Have Created a New Type of Star

![After two white dwarf stars managed to merge without destroying each other, scientists say they've observed a brand new type of star.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/unusual-merger-created-new-type-star.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: via ESA/XMM-Newton, L. Oskinova/Univ. Potsdam, Germany / Futurism\</em\>*

## New Star

A team of astronomers suspects it found a brand-new type of star, which the European Space Agency (ESA) compares to a set of "cosmic neon lights."

The star, which glows a rich shade of green when viewed through an X-ray telescope, has baffled astronomers since it was first spotted in 2019. But now ESA scientists seem to have gotten to the bottom of things, *[CNET ](<https://www.cnet.com/news/scientists-see-new-type-of-star-glowing-in-x-ray-light/#ftag=CAD590a51e>)*[reports](<https://www.cnet.com/news/scientists-see-new-type-of-star-glowing-in-x-ray-light/#ftag=CAD590a51e>), finding that the new star seems to be the unlikely result of two white dwarfs — the [kind of dead star](<https://futurism.com/two-white-dwarfs-orbiting-incredibly-fast>) our Sun will eventually become — merging and somehow managing to not destroy each other.

## Flash Burn

The resulting star is something of an oddball, even aside from its bright green hue. Because it comes from two burnt-out stars, it seems totally devoid of cosmic fuel like hydrogen and helium, [according to research](<https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2020/12/aa39232-20/aa39232-20.html>) published last month in the journal *Astronomy & Astrophysics*. Meanwhile, the gases on its surface are whipping around at record-breaking speeds.

The ESA [shared an X-ray image](<http://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2021/01/Cosmic_neon_lights>) of the star on Monday, noting that it's the first time astronomers have ever captured an image of a celestial body like it.

## Burning Out

Sadly, the bizarre star won't be around for long, at least compared to a typical cosmic time scale.

Because the star is unusually volatile and unstable, so it will likely burn out and collapse into a neutron star within just 10,000 years.

**READ MORE:** [Scientists see 'new type of star' glowing in X-ray light](<https://www.cnet.com/news/scientists-see-new-type-of-star-glowing-in-x-ray-light/#ftag=CAD590a51e>) \[*CNET*\]

**More on white dwarf stars:** *[Two Dead Stars Are Orbiting Each Other’s Corpses Incredibly Fast](<https://futurism.com/two-white-dwarfs-orbiting-incredibly-fast>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)