Radio astronomers catch a glimpse of an astrophysical jet For
thie first time, astronomers have detected a radio jet from a
dwarf nova. June 10, 2008 Provided by AAVSO, Cambridge,
Massachusetts June 10, 2008 An artist's concept of a dwarf nova
system. The gravitational field of a white dwarf pulls matter
off the surface of a companion star into a disk surrounding the
white dwarf. The disk occasionally goes into outburst, making
the dwarf nova system about 100 times brighter than in
quiescence. Radio jets are now believed to be formed during the
first few hours of an outburst, during the rapid brightening
stage. Photo by A. Beardmore, University of Leicester A paper by
Dr. Elmar Koerding (U. Southampton, UK) and collaborators was
published in the journal Science June 6 describing what is
believed to be the first astrophysical radio jet detected from
an outbursting dwarf nova. The observations were performed with
assistance from the American Association of Variable Star
Observers (AAVSO) and amateur variable st