This White Dwarf Merged With Another Star To Form An Ultra-Massive White Dwarf

An artist's illustration (not to scale) of a white dwarf merging with a much larger star. These mergers could be what produces ultra-massive white dwarfs. Image Credit: Snehalata Sahu/University of Warwick

White dwarfs are the stellar remnants left behind by stars after they run out of hydrogen and cease fusion. Only a small number of them are “high-mass white dwarfs” more massive than the Sun. New research indicates that these massive white dwarfs are the result of mergers.

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