Local scientists in solar system discovery

• By Terence Mukasa

RESEARCHERS from the High Energy Stereoscopic System (HESS) facility in Namibia have observed powerful eruptions on the surface of a star known as the white dwarf in a binary star system known as Novae.

A nova creates a shockwave that tears through the surrounding medium, pulling particles with it and accelerating them to extreme energies. Novae events occur when the white dwarf gathers material from its massive companion star due to its gravity.

Some novae are known to repeat.

These recurrent novae are the result of thermo-nuclear explosions on the surface of old, very compact stars known as white dwarfs.

Read the full story in this week’s edition.