Hard to imagine this setup is long-term stable (long-term in astronomical terms, of course). I wonder how long before the orbit decays and the stars merge with a supernova bang?
True. It is bound to become a Type Ia supernova. Because of its rapid rotation, it can exceed the Chandrasekhar limit for a while, but not for long.
If the distance to this pair can be established by parallax, it would be a nice calibration point for this standard candle.
Apparently they are approximately equal in mass — and maybe the children of the same original star that went kablooey. But regardless, this is a terminal relationship they’re in.