Newly discovered 'two-faced' star has helium on one side, hydrogen on the other

Astronomers have discovered what they're calling a "two-faced" star, one side is composed almost entirely of hydrogen and the other side is made up of helium.

It's a first among white dwarf stars.

It was initially discovered by an instrument that scans the skies from The California Institute of Technology's Palomar Observatory near San Diego.

Observations of its two faces were later made with the W. M. Keck Observatory atop the Mauna Kea volcano in Hawaii.

The star is being nicknamed "Janus" after the two-faced Roman god of transition.

It's more than 1,300 light years away from Earth and rotates on its axis every 15 minutes.