In this instance, the "\*" basically returns a pointer to the filehandle. Something to do with typeglobs, an area I haven't explored much (yet). The asterisk indicates the typeglob (I believe), and the backslash performs it's usual "return-a-reference-to-this" function.

A typeglob is basically a complete symbol table entry, but you can use them (and references to them) like file handles.

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