This illustration shows the two white dwarf stars in the binary system J0806, which are frantically circling each other in an ever-quickening spiral. The two dwarfs orbit each other once every 321 seconds, and astronomers think this pace is speeding up, meaning they’re destined to ultimately collide into each other and merge. The dense system, about 1,600 light-years away, is thought to be creating gravitational waves, or warps in the curvature of space-time, first predicted by Einstein’s theory of general relativity. White Dwarf Gallery: Dead Star Shining
