A Pair of White Dwarfs Locked in a Six-Minute Orbit Might One Day Be Observed By Gravitational Waves

A pair of white dwarfs in the system eRASSU J0608 is expected to produce strong gravitational waves due to their rapid orbital decay. The system emits regular x-ray bursts, which are caused by material being directly captured by the other star rather than forming an accretion disk. The orbital decay rate is consistent with the loss of energy from gravitational waves, making this system one of the strongest gravitational wave sources for a binary star system. The estimated chirp mass is 0.43 solar masses, and the system's gravitational signal could be detectable by future space-based observatories like LISA.

• The system's orbital decay rate is faster than previously observed, which suggests it could be used to calibrate gravitational wave signals from other objects.
• The x-ray observations cannot determine the distance to the system, but the team hopes to discover a third stellar companion to help pin down the distance.
• The system's gravitational wave signal may be strong enough to be detected by future observatories, allowing for better understanding of binary star systems and gravitational wave physics.

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