Article
Article
White dwarf star
Article By:
Shipman, Harry L. Department of Physics, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware.
Last reviewed:August 2020
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.745500
The smallest kind of ordinary star, about the size of the Earth. In most white dwarf stars, an amount of matter equal to 60% of the Sun's mass is compressed into this small volume. One quarter liter (about 1 cup) of white dwarf material has a mass of 600 tons. Several thousand white dwarf stars have been discovered.
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