An international team of scientists has found the first gamma-ray binary in a nearby galaxy and the most luminous one ever seen, using data from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. The dual-star system, dubbed LMC P3, contains a massive star and a crushed stellar core that interact to produce a cyclic flood of gamma rays, the highest-energy form of light. These rare systems contain either a neutron star or a black hole and radiate most of their energy in the form of gamma rays. The surface of the star at the heart of LMC P3 has a temperature exceeding 33,000 degrees Celsius, or more than six times hotter than the Sun's. Through a different mechanism, the electron wind also emits gamma rays.

Source: dna October 01, 2016 11:26 UTC