News Astronomy

The fastest-spinning white dwarf ever seen rotates once every 25 seconds

The star’s rotation period beats the previous champion by five seconds

illustration of a white dwarf star and a red dwarf star in the binary star system AE Aquarii

A white dwarf star (left) can spin fast after a red dwarf star (right) dumps gas onto it, as shown in this artwork of the binary star system AE Aquarii. A similar system was just discovered to contain the fastest spinner on record.

Casey Reed/NASA

By Ken Croswell

- More than 2 years ago

The sun turns once a month and the Earth once a day, but a white dwarf star 2,000 light-years away spins every 25 seconds, beating the old champ by five seconds.