How do white dwarfs form and why are they so dense?
Quick Answer
They form when a low- or medium-mass star sheds its outer layers and the leftover core collapses to about Earth size. Electron degeneracy pressure stops the collapse, making the remnant incredibly dense.
The Full Story
After a star like the Sun exhausts its fuel, it expels its outer layers as a planetary nebula and leaves behind a hot core. That remnant is a white dwarf, typically with about the Sun’s mass compressed into a sphere roughly the size of Earth. It does not collapse further because electron degeneracy pressure resists compression. White dwarfs gradually cool and fade over immense timescales. The Chandrasekhar limit, about 1.4 solar masses, is the maximum mass a white dwarf can support before further collapse becomes possible.
Key Facts
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"A star’s final ember packed into an Earth-sized sphere"
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