Astronomers have discovered a glowing bow shock around the white dwarf RXJ0528+2838, located 731 light-years away, in a phenomenon that defies current understanding.

Unlike typical white dwarfs, which produce outflows through a surrounding disk, RXJ0528+2838 has no disk, yet it has generated a multi-colored nebula for roughly 1,000 years.

Researchers suggest the star’s strong magnetic field may channel material from its companion directly onto the white dwarf, bypassing disk formation.

The bow shock’s composition of hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen indicates sustained, steady outflows rather than explosive events, Science Alert has reported.

This finding reveals a previously unknown mechanism for mass transfer in binary systems, challenging standard models of stellar behavior.