white dwarf
A Star had a Partial Supernova and Kicked Itself Into a High-Speed Journey Across the Milky Way
Supernovae are some of the most powerful events in the Universe. They're extremely energetic, luminous explosions that can light up…
White dwarfs are a big source of carbon in the Universe
In their nuclear hearts, stars fuse elements heavier than hydrogen, creating the ingredients necessary to make planets, oceans, and people.…
Astronomers Watch a Nova Go From Start to Finish for the First Time
A nova is a dramatic episode in the life of a binary pair of stars. It's an explosion of bright…
Astronomers Watched a Star System Die
About 570 light years from Earth lies WD 1145+017, a white dwarf star. In many respects it's a typical white…
Two White Dwarfs Merged Together Into a Single “Ultramassive” White Dwarf
Astronomers have found a white dwarf that was once two white dwarfs. The pair of stars merged into one about…
Forget Betelgeuse, the Star V Sagittae Should Go Nova Within this Century
The star V Sagittae is the next candidate to explode in stellar pyrotechnics, and a team of astronomers set the…
This Star Has Reached the End of its Life
About 10,000 light years away, in the constellation Centaurus, is a planetary nebula called NGC 5307. A planetary nebula is…
This Star Has Been Going Nova Every Year, for Millions of Years
A nova star is like a vampire that siphons gas from its binary partner. As it does so, the gas…
A Guide to Hunting Zombie Stars
Apparently not all supernovas work. And when they fail, they leave behind a half-chewed remnant, still burning from leftover heat…
You’re Looking at an Actual Image of a White Dwarf Feeding on Material from a Larger Red Giant, 650 Light Years from Earth.
The SPHERE planet-hunting instrument on the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope captured this image of a white dwarf feeding…