White dwarf
What Happens to Solar Systems When Stars Become White Dwarfs?
In a couple billion years, our Sun will be unrecognizable. It will swell up and become a red giant, then…
This Supernova Lit Up the Sky in 1181. Here’s What it Looks Like Now
Historical astronomical records from China and Japan recorded a supernova explosion in the year 1181. It was in the constellation…
White Dwarfs Might Be Less Dead Than We Thought
The standard theory says that white dwarfs are the dead cores of main sequence stars. They're out of fuel and…
Astronomers Can See the Impact Site Where an Asteroid Crashed Into a White Dwarf
When a star like the Sun reaches the end of its life, it becomes a red giant and blows away…
Webb Directly Images Two Planets Orbiting White Dwarfs
In several billion years, our Sun will become a white dwarf. What will happen to Jupiter and Saturn when the…
White Dwarfs Could Support Life. So Where are All Their Planets?
Astronomers have found plenty of white dwarf stars surrounded by debris disks. Those disks are the remains of planets destroyed…
JWST Looks at the Debris Disc Around a White Dwarf
White dwarfs are the ultimate fate of stars like our Sun, and one of the most exciting examples is located…
Did this Supernova Explode Twice?
All supernovae are exploding stars. But the nature of a supernova explosion varies quite a bit. One type, named Type…
One Side of This White Dwarf is Covered in Hydrogen While the Other Side is Helium.
Here's a new one. Astronomers have found a white dwarf star - the dead remnant from a main sequence star…
A White Dwarf is Starting to Crystallize into Diamond
White dwarfs are the stellar remnants of stars like our Sun. They're strange objects, and astrophysicists think their cores can…