Thermonuclear blast sends star hurtling across our Milky Way
Researchers have found evidence of a star blasting itself out of its orbit with another star in a “partial supernova” — now hurtling across the Milky Way. The star, which has about 40 percent of the mass of our sun, is traveling at 559,234 mph. Scientists at the UK’s University of Warwick note that the star, a white dwarf designated SDSS J1240+6710, has an unusual composition. White dwarfs are very dense small stars that have exhausted their nuclear fuel. “The majority of white dwarfs have atmospheres composed almost entirely of hydrogen or helium, with occasional evidence of carbon or oxygen dredged up from the star’s core,” the University of Warwick scientists explained in a statement. SDSS J1240+6710, however, seemed to contain neither hydrogen nor helium, but was com