The Astrology of Space - Matrix Software

The Astrology of Space
White Dwarf Stars
White dwarfs are sub-luminous and super-dense
stars. A white dwarf results when the thermonuclear
reactions are exhausted in the stellar core. Not all
stars become white dwarfs. Only stars of less than 14
solar masses go the route of the white dwarf. A typical
white dwarf would have shed a large fraction of its
mass into space perhaps in the nova or supernova
process. With the exhaustion of the thermonuclear
radiation, the gravitational forces cause the star to
contract until the atoms have been stripped of their
orbital electrons, due to the high internal pressure.
The electrons, themselves, still exert an outward
pressure and the star resists further, and a stable
state results.
Weak nuclear reactions and the gravitational energy
of contraction continue to furnish energy to keep the
white dwarf feebly shining. White dwarfs have been
known to astronomers for many years and are so
common that it was believed that all dying stars
somehow manage to eject enough material to
become white dwarfs. White-dwarfs cool off and
become, in time, black dwarfs., It is hard enough to
see the dim white-dwarfs and no black-dwarfs have
ever been found. White dwarfs occur in the lower lefthand
corner of the Hertzspring-Russell Diagram
(which see) or are, in other words, hot and dim.
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