Scientists say that one star 'lashes' another in 'brutal' behavior

Researchers at the European Southern Observatory have released a statement about interesting behavior going on in the system AR Scorpii. The system is binary, meaning two stars are there, but it's often mistaken as having only one star.

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A white dwarf -- a very dense star in the system -- spins rapidly, powering up electrons at the speed of light. The electrons blast flashes of radiation to a red dwarf star close by. As the Observatory describes it, this "causes the entire system to pulse dramatically every 1.97 minutes with radiation ranging from the ultraviolet to radio."

Apparently, the white dwarf "lashes" the red dwarf, which is what scientists call "brutal behavior."

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The white dwarf is the same size as Earth but contains 200,000 times the mass. The red dwarf contrastingly has mass equivalent to a third of the amount the sun has.

Scientists are unsure where the electrons come from and why it appears as though the white dwarf is "lashing" the red dwarf.