Spitzer Telescope Observes Baby Brown Dwarf Nov 24, 2009
Observations made with NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope reveal six dead "white dwarf" stars littered with. . (Science Daily)
Photo Gallery Nov 21, 2009
8-magnitude central star is very blue white dwarf. Discovered in 1939 by R. Jones and R. Emberson, it's "PK" designation comes from the names of Czechoslovakian astronomers Perek and Kohoutek, who in 1967 created an extensive catalog of all of the planetary nebulas known in the Milky Way as of 1964. (SkyAndTelescope.com)
Novel Nova: Stellar Blast Powered by Helium May Leave a Tantalizing Remnant Nov 21, 2009
The first so-called helium nova, the possible result of a large white dwarf sucking material from a hydrogen-deficient companion star, may be a precursor to a supernova ... BOW TIE IN THE SKY: The rapidly expanding shell of V445 Puppis marks a violent explosion that likely arose from a white dwarf accreting material from a nearby helium star ... Helium novae are thought to arise from a binary star system in which one member is a hydrogen-depleted star, which relies mostly on helium to generate... (Scientific American)
FULL STORY (includes animations) Nov 18, 2009
Earth-sized white dwarfs show oxygen atmosphere. Astronomers have discovered two Earth-sized bodies with oxygen-rich atmospheres, but there is no chance of finding life on these worlds for they are two unusual breeds of white dwarf star ... V445 Puppis is also the first, and so far only nova showing no evidence for hydrogen, providing the first evidence for an outburst on the surface of a white dwarf dominated by helium. (Astronomy Now Online)
Earth-sized white dwarfs show oxygen atmosphere Nov 17, 2009
Astronomers have discovered two Earth-sized bodies with oxygen-rich atmospheres, but there is no chance of finding life on these worlds for they are two unusual breeds of white dwarf star ... Astronomers have discovered two Earth-sized bodies with oxygen-rich atmospheres, but there is no chance of finding life on these worlds for they are two unusual breeds of white dwarf star ... The white dwarfs are roughly the same size as the Earth. (Astronomy Now Online)
2 Earth-sized bodies with O2 in atmospheres 'found' Nov 14, 2009
LONDON: Planetary scientists have discovered two Earth-sized bodies with oxygen rich atmospheres -- however, they are not planets but are actually two unusual white dwarf stars. The two white dwarf stars SDSS 0922+2928 and SDSS 1102+2054 are 400 and 220 light years from Earth are both the remnants of massive stars that are at the end of their stellar evolution having consumed all the material they had available for nuclear fusion ... Searching within an astronomical data set of the Sloan Digital... (India Times, India)
Two Earth-sized Oxygen-Rich Stars Nov 13, 2009
13, 2009) Astrophysicists at the University of Warwick and Kiel University have discovered two earth sized bodies with oxygen rich atmospheres -- however there is a bit of a disappointing snag for anyone looking for a potential home for alien life, or even a future home for ourselves, as they are not planets but are actually two unusual white dwarf stars ... The two white dwarf stars SDSS 0922+2928 and SDSS 1102+2054 are 400 and 220 light years from Earth ... Theoretical models suggest that... (Science Daily)
Study finds missing link in how stars die Nov 13, 2009
White dwarf stars may signal missing link ... The Sloan Digital Sky SurveySloan Digital Sky Survey spectroscopy of this inconspicuous blue object SDSS1102+2054 reveals it to be an extremely rare stellar remnant: a white dwarf with an oxygen-rich atmosphere ... as dim objects called white dwarfs. (MSNBC -- Technology)
Colliding White Dwarfs May Mimic Supernovae Used to Gauge Astronomical Distances Nov 10, 2009
A BIG BANG: In dense neighborhoods of space, two dense stellar remnants known as white dwarfs may collide from time to time ... The standard model holds that a white dwarf a dense, shrunken remnant of a star that has exhausted its fuel grows beyond its sustainable mass (approximately 1 ... Rather than a mass transfer or outright merger between a pair of stars locked in an orbital dance, two unbound white dwarfs residing in a dense stellar grouping could collide head-on. (Scientific American)
Spitzer Observes Chaotic Planetary System Nov 9, 2009
Observations made with NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope reveal six dead "white dwarf" stars littered with. (Oct. (Science Daily)
New type of supernova discovered Nov 6, 2009
A new type of supernova the explosive death of a star has been discovered in which helium detonates on the surface of a white dwarf star ... The idea involves a binary pair of white dwarfs, one of which is primarily made of helium that is being slowly siphoned off by its companion ... When enough helium accumulates on the surface of the main white dwarf, an explosion occurs that powers a faint and brief thermonuclear supernova. (MSNBC -- Technology)
Rapid Supernova: New Class Of Exploding Star? Nov 6, 2009
6, 2009) An unusual supernova rediscovered in seven-year-old data may be the first example of a new type of exploding star, possibly from a binary star system where helium flows from one white dwarf onto another and detonates in a thermonuclear explosion ... This rapid drop, coupled with the supernova's faintness, the strong signature of helium in the spectrum of the explosion, the absence of hydrogen, and the possible presence of vanadium -- an element never previously identified in supernova... (Science Daily)
Anatomy of a dying star Oct 8, 2009
The program simulated the death of a white dwarf (pictured), which is a compact remnant of a star similar to our sun ... If the white dwarf reaches a critical size, known as the Chandrasekhar mass, enough heat and pressure builds up that it begins simmering, a process that can last for centuries. (MSNBC -- Technology)
Dirty Stars Make Good Solar System Hosts Oct 7, 2009
20, 2009) Astronomers have found that at least 1 in 100 white dwarf stars show evidence of orbiting asteroids and rocky planets, suggesting these objects once hosted solar systems similar to our. (July 10, 2007) Looking at the chemical composition of stars that host planets, astronomers have found that while dwarf stars often show iron enrichment on their surface, giant stars do not. (Science Daily)
White dwarf's slow spin not just skin-deep Sep 25, 2009
By borrowing a technique used by seismologists to probe Earth's interior, astronomers have profiled for the first time the internal rotation of a white dwarf star, and find that it rotates at the same slow speed as its surface. White dwarfs are the dense cores of low-mass stars that have exhausted their nuclear fuel, and are thought to represent the final evolutionary state of the majority of stars in our Galaxy ... A typical white dwarf has about 60 percent the mass of the Sun crammed into a... (Astronomy Now Online)
Night Sky Viewing for October 2009 Sep 24, 2009
In the middle of the nebula lies a red giant that is in the midst of a transition to becoming a white dwarf. With larger telescopes the structure of the nebula becomes more apparent making it resemble the planet Saturn's rings. (Suite101.com)
First Full Simulation Of Star's Final Hours Sep 23, 2009
23, 2009) The precise conditions inside a white dwarf star in the hours leading up to its explosive end as a Type Ia supernova are one of the mysteries confronting astrophysicists studying these massive stellar explosions ... In a paper to be published in the October issue of Astrophysical Journal, Ann Almgren, John Bell and Andy Nonaka of Berkeley Lab's Computational Research Division, with Mike Zingale of Stony Brook University and Stan Woosley of University of California, Santa Cruz, describe... (Science Daily)
Refurbished Hubble gets off to a flying start Sep 12, 2009
Using ESA's XMM-Newton space telescope, astronomers have uncovered the first close-up of a white dwarf star circling a companion star that could explode in a dramatic supernova event in a few million years. Refurbished Hubble gets off to a flying start EMILY BALDWIN COOPERASTRONOMY NOWPosted: September 9, 2009. (Astronomy Now Online)
Astronomers uncover celestial Rosetta Stone Sep 12, 2009
Using ESA's XMM-Newton space telescope, astronomers have uncovered the first close-up of a white dwarf star circling a companion star that could explode in a dramatic supernova event in a few million years ... Using ESA's XMM-Newton space telescope, astronomers have uncovered the first close-up of a white dwarf star circling a companion star that could explode in a dramatic supernova event in a few million years ... While most white dwarfs pack 0. (Astronomy Now Online)
Dwarf Star Could Explode In Few Million Years Sep 4, 2009
Celestial Rosetta Stone: White Dwarf Star, Circling Companion Star, Could Explode In A Few Million Years ... Celestial Rosetta Stone: White Dwarf Star, Circling Companion Star, Could Explode In A Few Million Years ... 4, 2009) ESA's XMM-Newton orbiting X-ray telescope has uncovered a celestial Rosetta stone: the first close-up of a white dwarf star, circling a companion star, that could explode into a particular kind of supernova in a few million years. (Science Daily)
Variability in type Ia supernova Aug 21, 2009
Type 1a supernovae result from the violent explosion of a white dwarf star, and since their initial conditions are thought to be roughly the same in all cases, they tend to have the same luminosity ... This image based on a computer simulation of a type 1a supernova shows the turbulent and asymmetric flame of the runaway thermonuclear burning that consumes the white dwarf star ... The simulations were based on how and where the ignition process begins inside the white dwarf and where it makes... (Astronomy Now Online)
Variability Of Type 1a Supernovae Has Implications For Dark Energy Studies Aug 20, 2009
A type 1a supernova occurs when a white dwarf star acquires additional mass by siphoning matter away from a companion star ... 4 times the mass of the Sun, packed into an object the size of the Earth -- the heat and pressure in the center of the star spark a runaway nuclear fusion reaction, and the white dwarf explodes ... The computer models used to simulate these supernovae in the new study are based on current theoretical understanding of how and where the ignition process begins inside the... (Science Daily)
NASA Celebrates Chandra X-Ray Observatory's 10th Anniversary Jul 25, 2009
(June 6, 2005) A scientist using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has found evidence that two white dwarf stars are orbiting each other in a death grip, destined to merge. The data indicate that gravitational waves. (Science Daily)
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckonin... Jun 17, 2009
Where:Exhibition Place, Queen Elizabeth BuildingToronto, Ontario M6K 3C3When:Saturday, June 20th from 10:00am to 5:00pmFans who visit the Warhammer Online booth won't just get an early peek at the trap-filled tombs of the Nehekharan kings; they'll also have the chance to walk away with a limited-edition Empire Cherub t-shirt (while supplies last) and valuable in-game items:White Dwarf Beard- Exclusive White Dwarf Beard customization option for DwarfsShroud of Imrathepis- Linens taken from the... (New York Post -- Entertainment)
Betelgeuse, Red Supergiant In Constellation Orion, Has Shrunk By 15 Percent In 15 Years Jun 17, 2009
26, 2005) Observations of the white dwarf star, Sirius B, made with NASA's Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) satellite give astronomers firm new evidence that mathematical models widely used to ... One is a rather hot white dwarf, weighing. (Science Daily)
Supernova Remnant Is An Unusual Suspect Jun 16, 2009
Astronomers think that SNR 0104 is the remains of a so-called Type Ia supernova caused by the thermonuclear explosion of a white dwarf ... One possible explanation for this structure is that the explosion of the white dwarf itself was strongly asymmetrical and produced two jets of iron. (Science Daily)
Unique sky survey brings new objects into focus Jun 16, 2009
These supernovae, formed from the explosion of a class of dead star known as a white dwarf, are very useful to astronomers because they can help determine the distance to galaxies located across the universe. Those distances allow astronomers to probe the origin, structure, and even the ultimate fate of the universe. (EurekAlert! -- Business News)
World's Observatories Watching 'Cool' Star May 21, 2009
The dying star, a white dwarf identified as WDJ1524-0030, located in the constellation Ophiuchus in the southern sky, is losing its brightness as it cools, its nuclear fuel spent ... will focus on and photograph the white dwarf until sunrise, and then observers at McDonald Observatory in Fort Davis, Texas, and at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Tucson, Ariz ... The thousands of photographs of the white dwarf taken by WET will be e-mailed to the command center at Mt. Cuba Observatory staffed by... (Science Daily)
Unlikely Suns Reveal Improbable Planets May 20, 2009
The most extreme systems are those that orbit neutron stars, white dwarfs and brown dwarfs ... The bodies orbiting white dwarfs are the hardy survivors of the demise of a sunlike star ... Among the most poignant sights in the heavens are white dwarfs. (Scientific American)
'Whole Earth Telescope' spies white dwarf May 20, 2009
Whole Earth Telescope' spies white dwarf - Discovery ... Whole Earth Telescope spies white dwarf ... White dwarfs are the collapsed remains of stars about the size of the sun that have run out of material to sustain nuclear reactions. (MSNBC -- Technology)
Understanding Stellar Explosions Is Less Straightforward Than Previously Thought May 14, 2009
Today, physicists think that they take place in stellar binary systems, which are made up of two stars, a red giant and a small, hot companion called a white dwarf. "Matter is torn off the red giant and falls onto the surface of the white dwarf," explains Fran;ois de Oliveira Santos, a physicist working at GANIL. "This stellar matter accumulates on the surface of the white dwarf, leading to an increase in its temperature and density. A number of nuclear reactions, transforming one or more atomic... (Science Daily)
Sun's dippers raise riddle storms May 9, 2009
Then, after another billion years of life as a dull red giant, the sun is expected to suddenly collapse into a white dwarf, the final corpse for a star its humble size. Scientists estimate it would take a trillion years to fully cool off from its internal inferno. (Asia Times Online)
Missing Planets: Destructive Stellar Tides May 3, 2009
Missing Planets Attest To Destructive Power Of Stars' Tides. Missing Planets Attest To Destructive Power Of Stars' Tides. (Science Daily)
This just in: We die, the beat goes on May 1, 2009
When it contracts millions of years later, the dying star will live out the remainder of its nuclear-starved days as a white dwarf. Only dust motes dancing in the radiation-filled vacuum of space will testify that we were ever here. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA)
Youngest Supernova Remnant: Researchers 'Clear Away The Dust' To Get Better Look Apr 28, 2009
Their new data provides evidence that this remnant is from a type Ia supernova -- the explosion of a white dwarf star -- and raises questions about the ways in which magnetic fields affect the generation of the remnant's cosmic ray particles. NC State physicists Dr. Stephen Reynolds and Dr. Kazimierz Borkowski, with colleagues from Cambridge University and NASA, re-examined their original X-ray images of in an attempt to glean more information about the remnant's origins, rate of expansion, and... (Science Daily)
Solar Systems Around Dead Suns? Apr 20, 2009
19, 2009) Using NASA s Spitzer Space Telescope, an international team of astronomers have found that at least 1 in 100 white dwarf stars show evidence of orbiting asteroids and rocky planets, suggesting these objects once hosted Solar Systems similar to our own ... White dwarf stars are the compact, hot remnants left behind when stars like our Sun reach the end of their lives ... The data suggest that at least 1% to 3% of white dwarf stars are contaminated in this way and that the dust... (Science Daily)
Titanium reveals explosive origin of solar system Apr 18, 2009
According to the astronomers, Titanium 46, which contains 22 protons and 24 neutrons, is created inside the cores of massive collapsing stars while Titanium 50, which contains 22 protons and 28 neutrons, is created when white dwarf stars explode after gorging on a companion star. Text. (India Times, India -- Health/Science)
Thieving dwarves cause supernovae Apr 14, 2009
The secret, the researchers say, is that white dwarf stars steal mass from nearby "helium stars" until they have enough mass to initiate a supernova ... The new theory concerns white dwarf stars, the dense remains of stars like the Sun that have fused their hydrogen into helium and then the helium into carbon and oxygen ... In just a few seconds, the white dwarf's carbon is fused into heavier elements in a runaway process that releases huge amounts of energy into the cosmos: a supernova. (BBC News -- Science)
Youthful Supernovae Explained? Apr 14, 2009
In a paper published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, the researchers show how the transfer of material from a helium star to a compact white dwarf companion causes these cataclysmic events to take place early on in the life of the galaxy they formed in ... Most type Ia supernovae are believed to occur when a white dwarf (the superdense remnant that is the end state of stars like the Sun) draws matter from a companion star orbiting close by ... When the white dwarf mass... (Science Daily)
The most popular stars Apr 2, 2009
White dwarf stars: the end of the line. The white dwarf in this picture is not the giant star in the center it s the tiny dot in the lower left-hand corner ... Called Sirius B, it is the closest white dwarf to Earth. (Science News for Kids)
Super-sized Supernova: Scientists Observe Largest Exploding Star Yet Seen Mar 26, 2009
30, 2007) New, detailed observations of a supernova show evidence that a white dwarf star "fed" off a red giant to gain the critical mass needed for explosion. When white dwarf stars explode, they leave behind. (Science Daily)
Lower Atmosphere Of Pluto Revealed Mar 3, 2009
22, 2007) Astronomers have discovered white dwarf stars with pure carbon atmospheres. The discovery could offer a unique view into the hearts of dying stars. (Science Daily)
Discovery suggests new way Galaxies might form Feb 19, 2009
This composite image released by NASA March 7, 2007 shows Z Cam, a double-star system featuring a collapsed, dead star, called a white dwarf, and a companion star, as well as a ghostly shell around the system. The image combines data gathered from the far-ultraviolet and near-ultraviolet detectors on NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer orbiting space telescope on January 25, 2004. (Xinhuanet, China)
Oldest Brown Dwarf: Coolest And Oldest Objects In Galaxy Measured From Calar Alto Feb 17, 2009
One is a rather hot white dwarf, weighing. . (Science Daily)
DRIVING WHILE TYPING / Zone Defense Feb 8, 2009
It then bobbed to the surface, struck a mine, sank again, collapsed in on itself and became a white dwarf. Laughing in the wings and watching the whole fiasco was one of our largest competitors, who had a well-earned reputation for tight-fistedness. (Cohasset Mariner, MA)
