white dwarf

noun

plural white dwarfs

: a small hot whitish star of low intrinsic brightness usually with a mass approximately equal to that of the sun but with a density many times larger

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The most famous of these are Type Ia supernovas, in which the white dwarf is obliterated in a runaway thermonuclear explosion after stolen stellar material piles up on its surface (though there are rare events called Type Iax supernovas, in which the white dwarf lives on as a wrecked zombie star). —

Robert Lea, Space.com, 23 Dec. 2024 Situated some 3,000 light-years away from Earth, the Blaze Star is a binary system in which a white dwarf, the core remains of a dying star, accumulates material from its neighboring red giant star. —

Alexa Robles-Gil, Smithsonian Magazine, 7 Oct. 2024 The white dwarf stage is normally a super peaceful retirement period for stars. —

Jacek Krywko, Ars Technica, 21 May 2024 Their proximity allows material to flow from the subgiant to the white dwarf. —

Robert Lea, Space.com, 23 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for white dwarf