🔬 Science Mar 24, 2026 · Emily Baldwin-Fiebrich

XRISM solves gamma-Cas’s 50-year X-ray mystery

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XRISM solves gamma-Cas’s 50-year X-ray mystery
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Strange X-rays from the naked eye star gamma-Cas have been confirmed to come from matter falling onto a hidden white dwarf companion, resolving a fifty-year astronomical mystery.
Gamma-Cas, the central star in the familiar W-shape of Cassiopeia, has puzzled astronomers since the 1970s, when it was found to emit unusually strong high-energy X-rays. For decades two competing explanations have been considered. Either the X-rays arose from magnetic interaction between the star and its surrounding di

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