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Home > News > Tags > white dwarfs
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Stories about: white dwarfs |
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According to scientists from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), it would appear that Type Ia supernovae can arise from two independent mechanisms. Until now, astronomers believed that these objects could only be created through a single process, and debated what that process was.
Over the years,... |
7 May 2012
10:28 GMT |
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A recent astronomical study has revealed four white dwarf-class stars tearing apart and consuming just as many rocky extrasolar planets very similar to Earth. The discovery points at what might happen in our own solar system, when the Sun reaches the end of its main sequence.
For G-type yellow dwarf stars like our ... |
4 May 2012
09:49 GMT |
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This 9-year-old image collected by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope reveals a patch containing the oldest burnt-out star in our entire galaxy. These white dwarfs individually provide a means of assessing the age of the Universe that goes beyond studying ever-accelerating cosmic expansion.
White dwarfs are the hel... |
3 November 2011
03:40 GMT |
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Astronomers believe they may have just imaged the first extrasolar planet featuring an Earth-like, temperate climate. Such conditions are a must for the development of life, in addition to the existence of liquid water and the presence of a magnetosphere. Over the past couple of years, the number of exoplanets that a... |
22 October 2011
08:01 GMT |
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For several years, astrophysicists have been saying that Type Ia supernova events are caused by white dwarf stars accreting mass until they exceed stability thresholds, which caused them to blow up. Now, a new investigation shows that the explosions are in fact produced by white dwarf mergers.
This class of cosmi... |
5 October 2011
06:09 GMT |
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University of Washington associate professor of astronomy Eric Agol suggests that it may be a lot easier for astronomers to look for and identify extrasolar planets around ancient stars called white dwarfs. He says that exoplanets might reveal themselves a lot faster than usual at these locations.
White dwarfs are... |
16 September 2011
09:19 GMT |
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Astronomers have just discovered that the Milky Way may be laden with ticking time bombs, old stars that are only kept going by the fact that they spin at high speeds. Once they drop below a certain threshold, there is a significant risk that they could blow up, causing massive destruction all around.Not all stars po... |
7 September 2011
05:59 GMT |
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Astronomers operating the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have just released a new image of a cosmic structure called PN G054.2-03.4, but which is known among experts at the Necklace Nebula.The photos shows the object in all of its glory. It appears to be extremely bright, which enables astronomers to peer deeper wit... |
12 August 2011
07:49 GMT |
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Astronomers recently managed to capture a detailed view of the Dumbbell Nebula, a planetary nebula located about 1,360 light-years away, in the constellation Vulpecula. The object was seen in infrared wavelengths, which revealed details that were previously unknown. For this research, experts used the NASA Spitzer Sp... |
11 August 2011
04:00 GMT |
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One of the things that will always remain true about the Universe is that we will never know everything about it. Nevertheless, experts are taking small steps towards revealing its hidden nature, and they are now getting help from a most unlikely allied – dead white dwarf stars that are returning to life. These... |
27 July 2011
10:39 GMT |
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Experts working with the Panoramic Survey Telescope & Rapid Response System (Pan-STARR) announce the discovery of two new supernovae. These are massive explosions that occur when a star reaches the end of its burning cycle, and gets violently destroyed.
When a massive precursor star is involved, this usually lead... |
22 July 2011
02:46 GMT |
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Astronomers with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) announce the discovery of a pair of white dwarf stars locked in a binary system. The two objects are moving closer and closer to each other, and are expected to merge together in the future. White dwarfs are the remnants of Sun-like stars. They ar... |
14 July 2011
05:55 GMT |
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About six years ago, astronomers identified a supernova that apparently defies classification, and would be better off in a class of its own. Dubbed SN 2005E, the object was found spewing out the chemical elements titanium and calcium, something that has never been observed before. Current theories and existing obser... |
19 May 2011
10:12 GMT |
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Astronomers are currently keeping a close eye on the evolution of an interesting binary star system, which features two white dwarfs. The two objects are apparently about to merge, an event that will lead to the formation of a new, living stellar object.White dwarfs are the helium-burning remnants of Sun-sized stars ... |
11 May 2011
09:33 GMT |
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A group of investigators using the Chandra X-ray Observatory recently managed to get more insight into the factors that cause the appearance of type Ia supernovae. These are some of the most powerful blasts in the entire Universe, but their origins have never been clearly established. The team found traces of stellar... |
27 April 2011
03:30 GMT |
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After having lived full lives, the two components of a binary white dwarf system are now in the process of merging with each other. This will result in the formation of a new star, which will then go on to live a second full life.The discovery was made by a team ODF experts led by Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astro... |
8 April 2011
07:30 GMT |
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A team of astronomers working out of Chile managed to collect an impressive new view of one of the Milky Way's closest companions, the globular star cluster Messier 107. The structure is located relatively nearby, at just 21,000 light-years away from our galaxy. The object was imaged using the 2.2-meter telescop... |
4 April 2011
06:03 GMT |
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Since 1992, when the first exoplanet discovery was confirmed, astronomers have identifies more than 530 such objects, with an additional 1,200 or so awaiting confirmation. Experts now believe the search should be focused on analyzing white dwarfs, which may be home to such objects. White dwarfs are dim stars that hav... |
31 March 2011
07:43 GMT |
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Astronomers were recently able to identify what they consider to be the most likely formation mechanism for dramatic cosmic events known as Type Ia supernovae. The finding goes a long way towards clearing the mystery associated with these objects. Past studies had suggested that these events occur when a white dwarf ... |
22 March 2011
06:54 GMT |
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Astronomers operating the NASA Hubble Space Telescope captured a new view of an interesting dying star. They were able to establish that the celestial body is producing a toxic mix of poisonous gases as it slowly dies away. According to the experts, this object is located at the core of what is called a protoplanetar... |
10 March 2011
02:59 GMT |
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Astronomers have discovered a light signature in a nearby galaxy that appears to have been produced by a white dwarf in the process of being ripped apart by tidal and gravitational forces. In a new study, a team of experts proposes that the stellar remnant fell victim to a supermassive black hole that was about 1,000... |
3 March 2011
04:43 GMT |
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Several years ago, when astronomers first pointed their telescopes towards BP Piscium (BP Psc), all they saw was a aging red giant star, that exhibited some peculiarities of its own. Now, following new studies conducted with a variety of observatories, it was revealed that the object was a cannibal.It would now appea... |
13 January 2011
10:07 GMT |
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Scientists have recently determined that its possible for white dwarfs to grow by accreting medium-sized celestial bodies such as protoplanets called planetesimals. These space bodies can even contain water in concentrated forms, astronomers say.The discovery was made as experts were investigating the ways in which e... |
6 January 2011
05:38 GMT |
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Investigators announce that AX Persei, which is a symbiotic variable star system, shows signs of increased activity, which means that it could be on its way towards a new eruption. This star has been under monitoring for years, because it goes through cycles of calm periods and times of massive eruptions, and as... |
25 November 2010
17:01 GMT |
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Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) researchers, after finding the first hypervelocity stars getting out of the Milky Way, announced that they have spotted as much as a dozen double-star systems.Half of the new-found binary stars are merging and could explode as supernovae, sometimes in the astronomical... |
17 November 2010
03:09 GMT |
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Our solar system is about 4.6 billion years old, counting from the time the Sun fully developed onwards. Still, someday, things will change, and the Sun will eventually reach the end of its burning cycle. Researchers now explain what will happen next. Our parent star is a massive ball of fire that is powered by nucle... |
2 November 2010
12:10 GMT |
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Poets are well acquainted with the flickering of stars, which is sung in countless poems and works of art. Astronomers are equally as familiar, and also frustrated, with this flickering, because it means the atmosphere is interfering with their observations of very distant celestial objects. But there is another stag... |
19 May 2010
05:47 GMT |
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White dwarfs are omnipresent in the Universe. They are generally seen as representing the final stage in an average star's evolution, and are thought to form when a Sun-sized stellar object can no longer sustain nuclear fusion. Astronomers have known for a long time that analyzing these objects may yield some in... |
13 May 2010
02:43 GMT |
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Respected astronomer Frank Drake – the one who produced the famous equation of the same name – hypothesized more than 50 years ago that the Milky Way might be teeming with rocky exoplanets similar to our own. He made the prediction based purely on theoretical probabilities, and now new data of our galaxy ... |
13 April 2010
05:38 GMT |
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Supernovae are arguably among the most important structures in the known Universe. In addition to representing some of the most violent and beautiful bursts of energy, they also help astronomers calculate distances in space, and determine basic data about how fast the Universe is expanding, how old it is, and what di... |
16 March 2010
17:01 GMT |
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Researchers have recently managed to extract new knowledge on the violent binary star system HM Cancri, and to determine that its members spin around each other in a mere 5.4 minutes. This is extremely fast for such a cosmic pair, which is made up of two white dwarfs, stars about the size of our Sun that have reached... |
9 March 2010
06:46 GMT |
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Spectral type-R carbon stars are some of the most bizarre bodies in the Universe, simply because of their chemical structure that currently makes no sense for experts. Their atmospheres feature vast amounts of carbon, and very small oxygen concentrations, which is something that experts say shouldn't be the case... |
14 January 2010
10:57 GMT |
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Astronomers have recently determined that some of the supernova explosions we see in the night skies are in fact triggered by stars known as white dwarfs merging in a violent, cataclysmic event. The findings can help explain why some of the massive blasts that follow, which are so precise that they are currently used... |
8 January 2010
10:42 GMT |
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Being the massive galaxy that it is, the Milky Way contains a little bit of everything. This includes highly explosive white dwarf stars that explode periodically at relatively stable intervals. Such a celestial body, which is long overdue for its next powerful eruption, lies closer to our planet than astronomers fir... |
5 January 2010
01:50 GMT |
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When it comes to studying older Sun-like stars, astronomers suddenly find themselves in a bind. They say that their instruments start picking up unusual fluctuations in the stars' brightness. They add that, if they investigate the phenomenon even deeper, then more mystery is added to the original one, and very l... |
8 December 2009
02:02 GMT |
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Astronomers working with the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT), in Chile, have recently discovered a double star system, which appears to be housing a “vampire” star. The peculiar formation became visible to telescopes in 2000, after the star underwent an outburst that ... |
17 November 2009
11:05 GMT |
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Astronomers have known for a long time that the end of stars sees them transforming into a number of structures, including white dwarfs, neutron stars, or black holes. The thing that results after a star's demise is entirely based on the mass of said celestial body. If the mass is large, then the structure will ... |
13 November 2009
02:27 GMT |
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Supernovae are the huge explosions that accompany the end of a massive star's burning cycle. When the detonations occur, the outer layers over the former core are violently thrown away, and the core itself may collapse into a black hole, or into a neutron star, or simply a small, helium-based star, known as a wh... |
6 November 2009
16:01 GMT |
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The Ring Nebula is perhaps one of the most “popular” attractions in the sky, having been photographed on numerous occasions with virtually all telescopes capable of resolving it. By combining optical and near-infrared data of the formation, also known under the astronomical designation M57, experts at the... |
2 November 2009
14:11 GMT |
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Three applied mathematicians at the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), and two astrophysicists have recently created the first computer simulations of the final hours of white dwarf stars, right before they explode into Type Ia supernovae. The full-star-simulati... |
23 September 2009
05:54 GMT |
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The WET (Whole Earth Telescope) instrument is a global network of observatories, which includes others at various locations worldwide. The ample disposition of the array allows it to keep a specific object under continuous surveillance, for instance, which is precisely what the network is now doing with a “cool... |
16 May 2009
04:53 GMT |
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In a recent Hubble image, astronomers have observed a very peculiar type of white dwarfs, in a globular cluster containing some of the Universe's oldest star remnants. The 24 celestial bodies, of which 18 have never before been seen, are made up almost entirely of helium, instead of the carbon and oxygen these f... |
23 April 2009
21:01 GMT |
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A recent scientific study of white dwarfs has revealed that the dead stars, which are smaller and burn less intensely than main sequence ones, were actually the center of gravity for a number of solar systems. The way researchers figured that out was by measuring the amount of pollutants in the dead stars, by using t... |
21 April 2009
16:31 GMT |
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Classified as a M-type dwarf star, TVLM513-46546 is an ultracool low-mass star, situated in the Bo�tes constellation, about 35 light years away from Earth. During a simultaneous observation, made with four ground based telescopes, aided by space telescopes, astrophysicists have observed unusual magnetic activity, tha... |
5 December 2007
11:00 GMT |
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New images captured by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope show how white dwarfs are kicked from the place of the original star, when they form. While observing the NGC 6397 globular star cluster, which consists of a dense accumulation of stars, Hubble has spotted a white dwarf traveling at relatively high speed. Most... |
4 December 2007
11:24 GMT |
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The Hubble Space Telescope gets the 'Go Ahead' approval for the mission of observing the pending cataclysmic event of the variable star SDSS091908, due to studies made on the images taken by the Global Rent-a-scope Network. The research was made by the American Association of Variable Star Objects or AAVSO ... |
26 November 2007
05:41 GMT |
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It is a well-known fact that white dwarfs are one of the possible final stages of a star's life. But recently astronomers discovered a new type of white dwarfs which seem to have pure carbon atmospheres that cannot be explained through the current models.Stars are formed through a process that involves the colla... |
22 November 2007
03:25 GMT |
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