Texas astronomers announced a new discovery this week. According to Marfa Public Radio, scientists in the Lone Star State recently found that dying stars display huge outbursts as they decay. This phenomenon, characterized by hot, bright flashes, hasn’t been seen in stars like these before. Most dying stars end up as white dwarves, which pulsate like a heartbeat or vibrate rhythmically like a ringing bell. But the Texas astronomers noticed an interruption of the pulsing, where the stars would go very bright for a few hours.
The scientists used the Kepler spacecraft to make their discovery, watching the same patch of sky and observing the same stars nonstop for a period of almost two years.