dwarfs

White Dwarfs Could Be More Habitable Than We Thought

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The researchers created synthetic spectra for both Kepler-62 and the white dwarf based on what is known about both. This image shows the spectral energy distribution of the modelled WD with an effective temperature of 5000 K (red) and a synthetic spectrum of Kepler-62 (4859 K, purple). Image Credit: Shields et al. 2025.

White dwarfs are the remnants of once brilliant main sequence stars like our Sun. They’re extremely dense and no longer perform any fusion. The light they radiate is from remnant heat only. Astronomers have doubted that white dwarfs could host habitable planets, partly because of the tumultuous path they follow to become white dwarfs, but … Read more

How puffy white dwarfs could shed light on mysterious dark matter

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White dwarfs are giving up more of their secrets, with the discovery that the hotter they are, the puffier their outer layers are. While this finding may sound immaterial, understanding the structure of white dwarfs could ultimately prove key in discovering what mysterious dark matter is made from. White dwarfs are the core remains of … Read more