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A white dwarf, then, packs mass comparable to the Sun's into a volume that is typically a million times smaller than the Sun's; the average density of matter in a white dwarf must therefore be, very roughly, 1 000 000 times greater than the average density of the Sun, or approximately 10 6 g/cm 3, or 1 tonne per cubic centimetre. [1]
The first white dwarf discovered was in the triple star system of 40 Eridani, which contains the relatively bright main sequence star 40 Eridani A, orbited at a distance by the closer binary system of the white dwarf 40 Eridani B and the main sequence red dwarf 40 Eridani C.
The chemical composition of the white dwarf depends upon its mass. A star that has a mass of about 8-12 solar masses will ignite carbon fusion to form magnesium, neon, and smaller amounts of other elements, resulting in a white dwarf composed chiefly of oxygen, neon, and magnesium, provided that it can lose enough mass to get below the ...
Van Maanen's star is also the nearest solitary white dwarf [5] First white dwarf with a planet WD B1620−26: 2003 PSR B1620-26 b (planet) This planet is a circumbinary planet, which circles both stars in the PSR B1620-26 system [6] [7] First singular white dwarf with a transiting object WD 1145+017: 2015 Known object is a disintegrating ...
1910 – the spectrum of 40 Eridani B is observed, making it the first confirmed white dwarf. 1914 – Walter Sydney Adams determines an incredibly high density for Sirius B. 1926 – Ralph Fowler uses Fermi–Dirac statistics to explain white dwarf stars. 1930 – Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar discovers the white dwarf maximum mass limit.
This dead, dense star remnant is called a white dwarf." As this is the first time scientists have ever seen this "catastrophic destruction" in action, it's a pretty monumental moment for astronomers!
Sub-dwarf classes have also been used: VI for sub-dwarfs (stars slightly less luminous than the main sequence). Nominal luminosity class VII (and sometimes higher numerals) is now rarely used for white dwarf or "hot sub-dwarf" classes, since the temperature-letters of the main sequence and giant stars no longer apply to white dwarfs.
Astronomers have discovered a white dwarf star, or the burnt core of a dead star, that has two completely different faces. One is made of hydrogen, while the other is made of helium.