White dwarf
A white dwarf is a
White dwarfs are thought to be the final evolutionary state of stars whose mass is not high enough to become a neutron star or black hole. This includes over 97% of the stars in the Milky Way.[4]: §1 After the hydrogen-fusing period of a main-sequence star of low or medium mass ends, such a star will expand to a red giant during which it fuses helium to carbon and oxygen in its core by the triple-alpha process. If a red giant has insufficient mass to generate the core temperatures required to fuse carbon (around 1 billion K), an inert mass of carbon and oxygen will build up at its center. After such a star sheds its outer layers and forms a planetary nebula, it will leave behind a core, which is the remnant white dwarf.[5] Usually, white dwarfs are composed of carbon and oxygen (CO white dwarf). If the mass of the progenitor is between 7 and 9 solar masses (M☉), the core temperature will be sufficient to fuse carbon but not neon, in which case an oxygen–neon–magnesium (ONeMg or ONe) white dwarf may form.[6] Stars of very low mass will be unable to fuse helium; hence, a helium white dwarf[7][8] may form by mass loss in binary systems.
The material in a white dwarf no longer undergoes fusion reactions, so the star has no source of energy. As a result, it cannot support itself by the heat generated by fusion against gravitational collapse, but is supported only by electron degeneracy pressure, causing it to be extremely dense. The physics of degeneracy yields a maximum mass for a non-rotating white dwarf, the Chandrasekhar limit — approximately 1.44 times M☉ — beyond which it cannot be supported by electron degeneracy pressure. A carbon–oxygen white dwarf that approaches this mass limit, typically by mass transfer from a companion star, may explode as a type Ia supernova via a process known as carbon detonation;[1][5] SN 1006 is thought to be a famous example.
A white dwarf is very hot when it forms, but because it has no source of energy, it will gradually cool as it radiates its energy away. This means that its radiation, which initially has a high color temperature, will lessen and redden with time. Over a very long time, a white dwarf will cool and its material will begin to crystallize, starting with the core. The star's low temperature means it will no longer emit significant heat or light, and it will become a cold black dwarf.[5] Because the length of time it takes for a white dwarf to reach this state is calculated to be longer than the current age of the known universe (approximately 13.8 billion years),[9] it is thought that no black dwarfs yet exist.[1][4] The oldest known white dwarfs still radiate at temperatures of a few thousand kelvins, which establishes an observational limit on the maximum possible age of the universe.[10]
Discovery
The first white dwarf discovered was in the
I was visiting my friend and generous benefactor, Prof. Edward C. Pickering. With characteristic kindness, he had volunteered to have the spectra observed for all the stars – including comparison stars – which had been observed in the observations for stellar parallax which Hinks and I made at Cambridge, and I discussed. This piece of apparently routine work proved very fruitful – it led to the discovery that all the stars of very faint absolute magnitude were of spectral class M. In conversation on this subject (as I recall it), I asked Pickering about certain other faint stars, not on my list, mentioning in particular 40 Eridani B. Characteristically, he sent a note to the Observatory office and before long the answer came (I think from Mrs. Fleming) that the spectrum of this star was A. I knew enough about it, even in these paleozoic days, to realize at once that there was an extreme inconsistency between what we would then have called "possible" values of the surface brightness and density. I must have shown that I was not only puzzled but crestfallen, at this exception to what looked like a very pretty rule of stellar characteristics; but Pickering smiled upon me, and said: "It is just these exceptions that lead to an advance in our knowledge", and so the white dwarfs entered the realm of study!
The spectral type of 40 Eridani B was officially described in 1914 by Walter Adams.[13]
The white dwarf companion of Sirius, Sirius B, was next to be discovered. During the nineteenth century, positional measurements of some stars became precise enough to measure small changes in their location.
If we were to regard Sirius and Procyon as double stars, the change of their motions would not surprise us; we should acknowledge them as necessary, and have only to investigate their amount by observation. But light is no real property of mass. The existence of numberless visible stars can prove nothing against the existence of numberless invisible ones.
Bessel roughly estimated the period of the companion of Sirius to be about half a century;[14] C.A.F. Peters computed an orbit for it in 1851.[15] It was not until 31 January 1862 that Alvan Graham Clark observed a previously unseen star close to Sirius, later identified as the predicted companion.[15] Walter Adams announced in 1915 that he had found the spectrum of Sirius B to be similar to that of Sirius.[16]
In 1917,
Composition and structure
Although white dwarfs are known with estimated masses as low as 0.17 M☉.
White dwarfs were found to be extremely dense soon after their discovery. If a star is in a
We learn about the stars by receiving and interpreting the messages which their light brings to us. The message of the companion of Sirius when it was decoded ran: "I am composed of material 3,000 times denser than anything you have ever come across; a ton of my material would be a little nugget that you could put in a matchbox." What reply can one make to such a message? The reply which most of us made in 1914 was — "Shut up. Don't talk nonsense."
As Eddington pointed out in 1924, densities of this order implied that, according to the theory of general relativity, the light from Sirius B should be gravitationally redshifted.[22] This was confirmed when Adams measured this redshift in 1925.[34]
Material | Density in kg/m3 | Notes |
---|---|---|
Supermassive black hole | c. 1,000[35] | Critical density of a black hole of around 108 solar masses. |
Water (fresh) | 1,000 | At STP |
Osmium | 22,610 | Near room temperature |
The core of the Sun | c. 150,000 | |
White dwarf | 1 × 109[1] | |
Atomic nuclei |
2.3 × 1017[36] | Does not depend strongly on size of nucleus |
Neutron star core | 8.4 × 1016 – 1 × 1018 | |
Small black hole | 2 × 1030[37] | Critical density of an Earth-mass black hole. |
Such densities are possible because white dwarf material is not composed of
Compression of a white dwarf will increase the number of electrons in a given volume. Applying the Pauli exclusion principle, this will increase the kinetic energy of the electrons, thereby increasing the pressure.[38][41] This electron degeneracy pressure supports a white dwarf against gravitational collapse. The pressure depends only on density and not on temperature. Degenerate matter is relatively compressible; this means that the density of a high-mass white dwarf is much greater than that of a low-mass white dwarf and that the radius of a white dwarf decreases as its mass increases.[1]
The existence of a limiting mass that no white dwarf can exceed without collapsing to a neutron star is another consequence of being supported by electron degeneracy pressure. Such limiting masses were calculated for cases of an idealized, constant density star in 1929 by
If a white dwarf were to exceed the Chandrasekhar limit, and nuclear reactions did not take place, the pressure exerted by electrons would no longer be able to balance the force of gravity, and it would collapse into a denser object called a neutron star.[47] Carbon–oxygen white dwarfs accreting mass from a neighboring star undergo a runaway nuclear fusion reaction, which leads to a Type Ia supernova explosion in which the white dwarf may be destroyed, before it reaches the limiting mass.[48]
New research indicates that many white dwarfs – at least in certain types of galaxies – may not approach that limit by way of accretion. It has been postulated that at least some of the white dwarfs that become supernovae attain the necessary mass by colliding with one another. It may be that in
White dwarfs have low
Mass–radius relationship
The relationship between the mass and radius of low-mass white dwarfs can be estimated using the nonrelativistic Fermi gas equation of state, which gives[40]
where R is the radius, M is the total mass of the star, N is the number of electrons per unit mass (dependent only on composition), me is the electron mass, is the
Since this analysis uses the non-relativistic formula T = p2 / 2m for the kinetic energy, it is non-relativistic. When the electron velocity in a white dwarf is close to the speed of light, the kinetic energy formula approaches T = pc where c is the speed of light, and it can be shown that there is no stable equilibrium in the ultrarelativistic limit. In particular, this analysis yields the maximum mass of a white dwarf, which is[40]
For a more accurate computation of the mass-radius relationship and limiting mass of a white dwarf, one must compute the
These computations all assume that the white dwarf is non-rotating. If the white dwarf is rotating, the equation of hydrostatic equilibrium must be modified to take into account the
Rotating white dwarfs and the estimates of their diameter in terms of the angular velocity of rotation has been treated in the rigorous mathematical literature.[56] The fine structure of the free boundary of white dwarfs has also been analysed mathematically rigorously.[57]
Radiation and cooling
The degenerate matter that makes up the bulk of a white dwarf has a very low
The visible radiation emitted by white dwarfs varies over a wide color range, from the whitish-blue color of an O, B or A-type main sequence star to the yellow-orange of a late K or early M-type star.
White dwarfs also radiate neutrinos through the Urca process.[63] This process has more effect on hotter and younger white dwarfs.
As was explained by Leon Mestel in 1952, unless the white dwarf accretes matter from a companion star or other source, its radiation comes from its stored heat, which is not replenished.[64][65]: §2.1 White dwarfs have an extremely small surface area to radiate this heat from, so they cool gradually, remaining hot for a long time.[5] As a white dwarf cools, its surface temperature decreases, the radiation which it emits reddens, and its luminosity decreases. Since the white dwarf has no energy sink other than radiation, it follows that its cooling slows with time. The rate of cooling has been estimated for a carbon white dwarf of 0.59 M☉ with a hydrogen atmosphere. After initially taking approximately 1.5 billion years to cool to a surface temperature of 7,140 K, cooling approximately 500 more kelvins to 6,590 K takes around 0.3 billion years, but the next two steps of around 500 kelvins (to 6,030 K and 5,550 K) take first 0.4 and then 1.1 billion years.[66]: Table 2
Most observed white dwarfs have relatively high surface temperatures, between 8,000 K and 40,000 K.
White dwarf core material is a completely ionized plasma – a mixture of
Low-mass helium white dwarfs (mass < 0.20 M☉), often referred to as "extremely low-mass white dwarfs, ELM WDs" are formed in binary systems. As a result of their hydrogen-rich envelopes, residual hydrogen burning via the CNO cycle may keep these white dwarfs hot on a long timescale. In addition, they remain in a bloated proto-white dwarf stage for up to 2 Gyr before they reach the cooling track.[86]
Atmosphere and spectra
Although most white dwarfs are thought to be composed of carbon and oxygen, spectroscopy typically shows that their emitted light comes from an atmosphere which is observed to be either hydrogen or helium dominated. The dominant element is usually at least 1,000 times more abundant than all other elements. As explained by Schatzman in the 1940s, the high surface gravity is thought to cause this purity by gravitationally separating the atmosphere so that heavy elements are below and the lighter above.[88][89]: §§5–6 This atmosphere, the only part of the white dwarf visible to us, is thought to be the top of an envelope which is a residue of the star's envelope in the AGB phase and may also contain material accreted from the interstellar medium. The envelope is believed to consist of a helium-rich layer with mass no more than 1⁄100 of the star's total mass, which, if the atmosphere is hydrogen-dominated, is overlain by a hydrogen-rich layer with mass approximately 1⁄10,000 of the star's total mass.[61][90]: §§4–5
Although thin, these outer layers determine the thermal evolution of the white dwarf. The degenerate electrons in the bulk of a white dwarf conduct heat well. Most of a white dwarf's mass is therefore at almost the same temperature (
Primary and secondary features | |
---|---|
A | H lines present |
B | He I lines |
C | Continuous spectrum; no lines |
O | He II lines, accompanied by He I or H lines |
Z | Metal lines |
Q | Carbon lines present |
X | Unclear or unclassifiable spectrum |
Secondary features only | |
P | Magnetic white dwarf with detectable polarization |
H | Magnetic white dwarf without detectable polarization |
E | Emission lines present |
V | Variable |
The first attempt to classify white dwarf spectra appears to have been by
- A white dwarf with only He I lines in its spectrum and an effective temperature of 15,000 K could be given the classification of DB3, or, if warranted by the precision of the temperature measurement, DB3.5.
- A white dwarf with a polarized magnetic field, an effective temperature of 17,000 K, and a spectrum dominated by He I lines which also had hydrogen features could be given the classification of DBAP3.
The symbols "?" and ":" may also be used if the correct classification is uncertain.[24][59]
White dwarfs whose primary spectral classification is DA have hydrogen-dominated atmospheres. They make up the majority, approximately 80%, of all observed white dwarfs.[61] The next class in number is of DBs, approximately 16%.[94] The hot, above 15,000 K, DQ class (roughly 0.1%) have carbon-dominated atmospheres.[95] Those classified as DB, DC, DO, DZ, and cool DQ have helium-dominated atmospheres. Assuming that carbon and metals are not present, which spectral classification is seen depends on the effective temperature. Between approximately 100,000 K to 45,000 K, the spectrum will be classified DO, dominated by singly ionized helium. From 30,000 K to 12,000 K, the spectrum will be DB, showing neutral helium lines, and below about 12,000 K, the spectrum will be featureless and classified DC.[90]: §2.4 [61]
Metal-rich white dwarfs
Around 25–33% of white dwarfs have metal lines in their spectra, which is notable because any heavy elements in a white dwarf should sink into the star's interior in just a small fraction of the star's lifetime.[97] The prevailing explanation for metal-rich white dwarfs is that they have recently accreted rocky planetesimals.[97] The bulk composition of the accreted object can be measured from the strengths of the metal lines. For example, a 2015 study of the white dwarf Ton 345 concluded that its metal abundances were consistent with those of a differentiated, rocky planet whose mantle had been eroded by the host star's wind during its asymptotic giant branch phase.[98]
Magnetic field
Magnetic fields in white dwarfs with a strength at the surface of c. 1 million
Since 1970, magnetic fields have been discovered in well over 200 white dwarfs, ranging from 2×103 to 109 gauss (0.2 T to 100 kT).[104] The large number of presently known magnetic white dwarfs is due to the fact that most white dwarfs are identified by low-resolution spectroscopy, which is able to reveal the presence of a magnetic field of 1 megagauss or more. Thus the basic identification process also sometimes results in discovery of magnetic fields.[105] It has been estimated that at least 10% of white dwarfs have fields in excess of 1 million gauss (100 T).[106][107]
The highly magnetized white dwarf in the binary system AR Scorpii was identified in 2016 as the first pulsar in which the compact object is a white dwarf instead of a neutron star.[108]
Chemical bonds
The magnetic fields in a white dwarf may allow for the existence of a new type of
Variability
DAV ( GCVS : ZZA) |
DA absorption lines in its spectrum
|
DBV (GCVS: ZZB) | DB spectral type, having only helium absorption lines in its spectrum |
GW Vir (GCVS: ZZO) | Atmosphere mostly C, He and O; may be divided into DOV and PNNV stars |
Early calculations suggested that there might be white dwarfs whose luminosity
Formation
White dwarfs are thought to represent the end point of stellar evolution for main-sequence stars with masses from about 0.07 to 10 M☉.[4][117] The composition of the white dwarf produced will depend on the initial mass of the star. Current galactic models suggest the Milky Way galaxy currently contains about ten billion white dwarfs.[118]
Stars with very low mass
If the mass of a main-sequence star is lower than approximately half a solar mass, it will never become hot enough to fuse helium in its core.[citation needed] It is thought that, over a lifespan that considerably exceeds the age of the universe (c. 13.8 billion years),[9] such a star will eventually burn all its hydrogen, for a while becoming a blue dwarf, and end its evolution as a helium white dwarf composed chiefly of helium-4 nuclei.[119] Due to the very long time this process takes, it is not thought to be the origin of the observed helium white dwarfs. Rather, they are thought to be the product of mass loss in binary systems[5][7][8][120][121][122] or mass loss due to a large planetary companion.[123][124]
Stars with low to medium mass
If the mass of a main-sequence star is between 0.5 and 8 M☉[citation needed] like the Sun, its core will become sufficiently hot to fuse helium into carbon and oxygen via the triple-alpha process, but it will never become sufficiently hot to fuse carbon into neon. Near the end of the period in which it undergoes fusion reactions, such a star will have a carbon–oxygen core which does not undergo fusion reactions, surrounded by an inner helium-burning shell and an outer hydrogen-burning shell. On the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram, it will be found on the asymptotic giant branch. It will then expel most of its outer material, creating a planetary nebula, until only the carbon–oxygen core is left. This process is responsible for the carbon–oxygen white dwarfs which form the vast majority of observed white dwarfs.[120][125][126]
Stars with medium to high mass
If a star is massive enough, its core will eventually become sufficiently hot to fuse carbon to neon, and then to fuse neon to iron. Such a star will not become a white dwarf, because the mass of its central, non-fusing core, initially supported by electron degeneracy pressure, will eventually exceed the largest possible mass supportable by degeneracy pressure. At this point the core of the star will
Type Iax supernova
Fate
A white dwarf is stable once formed and will continue to cool almost indefinitely, eventually to become a black dwarf. Assuming that the
A white dwarf can also be cannibalized or evaporated by a companion star, causing the white dwarf to lose so much mass that it becomes a
Debris disks and planets
A white dwarf's
The most common observable evidence of a remnant planetary system is pollution of the spectrum of a white dwarf with
A less common observable evidence is infrared excess due to a flat and optically thick debris disk, which is found in around 1–4% of white dwarfs.
The least common observable evidence of planetary systems are detected major or minor planets. Only a handful of giant planets and a handful of minor planets are known around white dwarfs.
System name | host star | minor planet? | Number of planets | Mass planet (MJ) | semi-major axis (au or R☉) | discovery method | discovery year | Note | Reference |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
PSR B1620-26 | white dwarf+pulsar | 1 | 2.5±1 | 23 au | pulsar timing | 1993 | [164] | ||
NN Serpentis | PCEB: white dwarf+red dwarf | 2 | c: 6.91±0.54
d: 2.28±0.38 |
c: 5.38±0.20 au
d: 3.39±0.10 au |
eclipse timing variation | 2010 | PCEB is surrounded by a dusty disk,[165] might be only one planet[166] | [167] | |
WD 0806-661 | single | 1 | 1.5-8 | 2500 au | direct imaging | 2011 | WD 0806-661 B can be interpreted as either a sub-brown dwarf or an exoplanet. | [168][169] | |
WD J0914+1914 | single | 1 | 15-16 R☉ | detection of accreted planet material via spectroscopy | 2019 | likely ice giant | [170] | ||
WD 1856+534 | single | 1 | >0.84[171] | 4 R☉ | transiting | 2020 | the white dwarf co-moves with G 229-20 A/B | [172][173][174] | |
MOA-2010-BLG-477L | single | 1 | 1.5+1.8 −0.3 |
1-5 au | microlensing | 2012/2021 | a Jupiter-analogue | [175] | |
WD 1145+017 | single | minor planet | 1 | 1.16 R☉[176] | transiting | 2015 | [177] | ||
SDSS J1228+1040 | single | minor planet | 1 | 0.73 R☉ | variable Calcium absorption line | 2019 | orbits within the debris disk of the white dwarf | [178] | |
WD 0145+234 | single | minor planet | 1 | 1.2 R☉[179] | tidal disruption event | 2019 | [180] | ||
ZTF J0139+5245 | single | minor planet | 1 | 0.36 au | transiting | 2020 | highly eccentric orbit (e>0.97)[149] | [181][182] | |
ZTF J0328-1219 | single | minor planet | 2 | b: 2.11 R☉
c: 2.28 R☉ |
transiting | 2021 | discovery paper also describes candidates around 4 other white dwarfs | [183][184] |
The metal-rich white dwarf WD 1145+017 is the first white dwarf observed with a disintegrating minor planet which transits the star.[185][177] The disintegration of the planetesimal generates a debris cloud which passes in front of the star every 4.5 hours, causing a 5-minute-long fade in the star's optical brightness.[177] The depth of the transit is highly variable.[177]
The giant planet
The white dwarf
WD 1856+534 is the first and only transiting major planet around a white dwarf (as of 2022).
A JWST survey of four metal polluted white dwarfs found two directly imaged exoplanet candidates with masses of 1-7 MJ. One orbits around WD 1202−232 (LP 852-7) and the other around WD 2105−82 (LAWD 83). If confirmed they would be the first directly imaged planets that likely formed from circumstellar disk material, representing a new population of directly imaged giant planets that are more similar to solar system giants in age and probably also in their atmosphere. Confirmation will be possible via the common proper motion method with JWST.[191]
In 2024 it was discovered that the white dwarf in the
Habitability
It has been proposed that white dwarfs with surface temperatures of less than 10,000 Kelvins could harbor a
Binary stars and novae
If a white dwarf is in a binary star system and is accreting matter from its companion, a variety of phenomena may occur, including
Type Ia supernovae
The mass of an isolated, nonrotating white dwarf cannot exceed the Chandrasekhar limit of ~1.4 M☉. This limit may increase if the white dwarf is rotating rapidly and nonuniformly.
Accretion provides the currently favored mechanism called the single-degenerate model for
Observations have failed to note signs of accretion leading up to Type Ia supernovae, and this is now thought to be because the star is first loaded up to above the Chandrasekhar limit while also being spun up to a very high rate by the same process. Once the accretion stops, the star gradually slows until the spin is no longer enough to prevent the explosion.[202]
The historical bright
Post-common envelope binary
A post-common envelope binary (PCEB) is a binary consisting of a white dwarf and a closely tidally-locked red dwarf (in other cases this might be a brown dwarf instead of a red dwarf). These binaries form when the red dwarf is engulfed in the red giant phase. As the red dwarf orbits inside the common envelope, it is slowed down in the denser environment. This slowed orbital speed is compensated with a decrease of the orbital distance between the red dwarf and the core of the red giant. The red dwarf spirals inwards towards the core and might merge with the core. If this does not happen and instead the common envelope is ejected, then the binary ends up in a close orbit, consisting of a white dwarf and a red dwarf. This type of binary is called a post-common envelope binary. The evolution of the PCEB continues as the two dwarf stars orbit closer and closer due to magnetic braking and by releasing gravitational waves. The binary might evolve at some point into a cataclysmic variable, and therefore post-common envelope binaries are sometimes called pre-cataclysmic variables.
Cataclysmic variables
Before accretion of material pushes a white dwarf close to the Chandrasekhar limit, accreted hydrogen-rich material on the surface may ignite in a less destructive type of thermonuclear explosion powered by
Other non-pre-supernova binaries
Other non-pre-supernova binaries include binaries that consist of a
Nearest
Identifier | WD Number | Distance ( ly )
|
Type | Absolute magnitude |
Mass (M☉) |
Luminosity (L☉) |
Age ( Gyr )
|
Objects in system |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sirius B | 0642–166 | 8.66 | DA | 11.18 | 0.98 | 0.0295 | 0.10 | 2 |
Procyon B | 0736+053 | 11.46 | DQZ | 13.20 | 0.63 | 0.00049 | 1.37 | 2 |
Van Maanen 2 | 0046+051 | 14.07 | DZ | 14.09 | 0.68 | 0.00017 | 3.30 | 1 |
LP 145-141
|
1142–645 | 15.12 | DQ | 12.77 | 0.61 | 0.00054 | 1.29 | 1 |
40 Eridani B | 0413-077 | 16.39 | DA | 11.27 | 0.59 | 0.0141 | 0.12 | 3 |
Stein 2051 B | 0426+588 | 17.99 | DC | 13.43 | 0.69 | 0.00030 | 2.02 | 2 |
G 240-72 | 1748+708 | 20.26 | DQ | 15.23 | 0.81 | 0.000085 | 5.69 | 1 |
Gliese 223.2
|
0552–041 | 21.01 | DZ | 15.29 | 0.82 | 0.000062 | 7.89 | 1 |
Gliese 3991 B[209]
|
1708+437 | 24.23 | D?? | >15 | 0.5 | <0.000086 | >6 | 2 |
Gallery
-
Illustration of rocky debris around a white dwarf[210]
-
Cocoon of a new white dwarf in the centre of NGC 2440
-
Artist's impression of an evolving white dwarf and millisecond pulsar binary system[211]
-
Illustration of anultracool dwarf with a companion white dwarf[212]
See also
- Black dwarf – Theoretical stellar remnant
- Brown dwarf – Type of substellar object larger than a planet
- Chandrasekhar's white dwarf equation
- Degenerate matter – Type of dense exotic matter in physics
- List of white dwarfs
- Neutron star – Collapsed core of a massive star
- PG 1159 star
- Planetary nebula – Type of emission nebula created by dying red giants
- Robust associations of massive baryonic objects – Proposed type of star cluster
- Stellar classification – Classification of stars based on spectral properties
- Timeline of white dwarfs, neutron stars, and supernovae – Chronological list of developments in knowledge and records
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External links and further reading
General
- Kawaler, S. D. (1997). "White Dwarf Stars". In Kawaler, S. D.; Novikov, I.; Srinivasan, G. (eds.). Stellar remnants. 1997. ISBN 978-3-540-61520-0.
- Kepler, S. O.; et al. (February 2015). "New white dwarf stars in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 10". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 446 (4): 4078–4087. ISSN 1365-2966.
- Rebassa-Mansergas, A.; Gänsicke, B. T.; Rodríguez-Gil, P.; Schreiber, M. R.; Koester, D. (28 November 2007). "Post-common-envelope binaries from SDSS – I. 101 white dwarf main-sequence binaries with multiple Sloan Digital Sky Survey spectroscopy: Post-common-envelope binaries from SDSS". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 382 (4): 1377–1393. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2007.12288.x.
Physics
- Black holes, white dwarfs, and neutron stars: the physics of compact objects, Stuart L. Shapiro and Saul A. Teukolsky, New York: Wiley, 1983. ISBN 0-471-87317-9.
- Gentile, Dave (1995). White dwarf stars and the Chandrasekhar limit (Master's thesis). DePaul University.
- "Estimating Stellar Parameters from Energy Equipartition". sciencebits.com. — Discusses how to find mass-radius relations and mass limits for white dwarfs using simple energy arguments.
Variability
- Winget, D.E. (1998). "Asteroseismology of white dwarf stars". Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter. 10 (49): 11247–11261. S2CID 250749380.
Magnetic field
- Wickramasinghe, D. T.; Ferrario, Lilia (2000). "Magnetism in Isolated and Binary White Dwarfs". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 112 (773): 873–924. doi:10.1086/316593.
Frequency
- Gibson, B. K.; Flynn, C (2001). "White Dwarfs and Dark Matter". Science. 292 (5525): 2211a. S2CID 14080941.
Observational
- Provencal, J. L.; Shipman, H. L.; Hog, Erik; Thejll, P. (1998). "Testing the White Dwarf Mass-Radius Relation with Hipparcos". The Astrophysical Journal. 494 (2): 759–767. doi:10.1086/305238.
- Gates, Evalyn; Gyuk, Geza; Harris, Hugh C.; Subbarao, Mark; Anderson, Scott; Kleinman, S. J.; Liebert, James; Brewington, Howard; et al. (2004). "Discovery of New Ultracool White Dwarfs in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey". The Astrophysical Journal. 612 (2): L129. S2CID 7570539.
- McCook, G.P.; Sion, E.M. (eds.). "White Dwarf Catalogue WD". Villanova University.
- Dufour, P.; Liebert, James; Fontaine, G.; Behara, N. (2007). "White dwarf stars with carbon atmospheres". Nature. 450 (7169): 522–4. S2CID 4398697.
Images
- Astronomy Picture of the Day
- NGC 2440: Cocoon of a New White Dwarf. Astronomy Picture of the Day (photograph). NASA. 21 February 2010.
- Dust and the Helix Nebula. Astronomy Picture of the Day (photograph). NASA. 31 December 2009.
- The Helix Nebula from La Silla Observatory. Astronomy Picture of the Day (photograph). NASA. 3 March 2009.
- IC 4406: A Seemingly Square Nebula. Astronomy Picture of the Day (photograph). NASA. 27 July 2008.
- A Nearby Supernova in Spiral Galaxy M100. Astronomy Picture of the Day (photograph). NASA. 7 March 2006.
- White Dwarf Star Spiral. Astronomy Picture of the Day (photograph). NASA. 1 June 2005.