white dwarf
nounEtymology Coined by Dutch astronomer Willem Luyten in 1922.
1
Astronomy, Natural sciences The dim, highly dense core remnant that is the final stage in the evolution of a star of low or medium mass, after nuclear reactions have ceased.
- In these stellar pairings, if the two stars are close together, the white dwarf will siphon mass away from its companion and have an outburst called a nova. And when the white dwarf accumulates too much mass, it will collapse and explode in a supernova. […] When white dwarfs explode, they create heavy elements that could exist around J1249+36.2024 August 21, Ashley Strickland, “An unusual object is moving so fast it could escape the Milky Way. Scientists aren’t certain what it is”, in CNN, archived from the original on 24 Sep 2024:
- Synonyms
- WD
- Related terms
- blue giant, red giant, yellow dwarf, red dwarf, brown dwarf, black dwarf, blue dwarf