Recurrent nova in the Large Magellanic Cloud

Artist's rendering of a recurrent nova in the Large Magellanic Cloud: a companion star feeds matter onto a white dwarf with a hot accretion disk

The illustration depicts a binary star system in which a massive companion star transfers gas onto a compact white dwarf. A scorching accretion disk forms around it, and the recurrent nova outburst makes the object brighter than the Sun. It is one of the hottest explosions ever recorded in the Large Magellanic Cloud.

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