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Sirius B, which is a white dwarf, can be seen as a faint point of light to the lower left of the much brighter Sirius A. A white dwarf is a stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very dense: in an Earth sized volume, it packs a mass that is comparable to the Sun.
The white dwarf existed for 10.21 ±0.22 Gyrs, meaning the total age is 10.7 ±0.3 Gyrs. [1] Cold white dwarfs are often strongly affected by collision induced absorption (CIA) of hydrogen. This can lead to faint optical red and infrared brightness. These white dwarfs are also called IR-faint white dwarfs. WD J2147–4035 is however very red (r ...
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 planetesimal, most likely an asteroid. [8] First white dwarf that is ...
The supposed planetesimal, WD 1145+017 b, [13] with a 4.5 hour orbit, is being ripped apart by the star and is a remnant of the former planetary system that the star hosted before becoming a white dwarf. [8] [9] It is the first observation of a planetary object being shredded by a white dwarf. Several other large pieces have been seen in orbit ...
After a white dwarf forms, its heavier elements are thought to sink to the star's core while its lighter elements - hydrogen being the lightest, followed by helium - float to the top. This layered ...
Eddington predicted that dwarf stars remain in an essentially static position on the main sequence for most of their lives. In the 1930s and 1940s, with an understanding of hydrogen fusion, came an evidence-backed theory of evolution to red giants following which were speculated cases of explosion and implosion of the remnants to white dwarfs.
A slowly cooling stellar ember called a white dwarf with a scar on its face is providing new insight into the behavior of certain "cannibal" stars at the end of their life cycle. Using the ...
Like other white dwarfs, it is a very dense star: its mass has been estimated to be about 67% of the Sun's, [28] yet it has only 1% of the Sun's radius (1.23 times the Earth's radius) [8] [a] The outer atmosphere has a temperature of approximately 6,110 K, [28] which is relatively cool for a white dwarf. As all white dwarfs steadily radiate ...