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Chapter 20: Problem 11

What is a white dwarf? Does it produce light in the same way as a star like the Sun?

Short Answer

Expert verified
A white dwarf is a dense, dim star, about the size of Earth but with a mass similar to the Sun. It shines because it is hot and radiates energy away as light, not because of ongoing nuclear fusion like in a star like the Sun. As it cools over billions of years, its light will fade.

Step by step solution

01

Define White Dwarf

A white dwarf is a type of star that is very dense and not very bright compared to other stars. It's a compact stellar object composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is approximately the size of the Earth but has the mass close to that of the Sun.
02

Explain the source of a White Dwarf鈥檚 Light

Unlike normal stars, white dwarfs no longer undergo nuclear fusion, rather, they shine because they are hot and radiate energy away as light. As they cool down over billions of years, they will fade until they no longer emit significant amounts of light, becoming a black dwarf.
03

Compare to the Sun鈥檚 Light Production

In contrast, a star like the Sun produces light and heat through nuclear fusion in its core. The Sun fuses hydrogen into helium and in the process, it releases a tremendous amount of energy in the form of light and heat. So, while both white dwarfs and stars like the Sun produce light, the processes through which they do so are different.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

What is nuclear density? Why is it significant when a star's core reaches this density?

What is the connection between dredge-ups in old stars and life on Earth?

What prevents thermonuclear reactions from occurring at the center of a white dwarf? If no thermonuclear reactions are occurring in its core, why doesn't the star collapse?

Imagine that our Sun was somehow replaced by a \(1-\mathrm{M}_{\odot}\) white dwarf star, and that our Earth continued in an orbit of semimajor axis \(1 \mathrm{AU}\) around this star. Discuss what effects this would have on our planet. What would the white dwarf look like as seen from Earth? Could you look at it safely with the unaided eye? Would the Earth's surface temperature remain the same as it is now?

Why do we not observe planetary nebulae that are more than about 50,000 years old?
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