Meet ZTF J1901+1458 — the Smallest, Densest White Dwarf Ever Seen — The Cosmic Companion July 2, 2021
Astronomers recently found the smallest, densest white dwarf ever seen. Here's a look at ZTF J1901+1458!
A white dwarf star the size of our Moon called ZTF J1901+1458 is the smallest — yet most-massive — such body ever seen by astronomers. And, it may be about to collapse.
White dwarfs are the collapsed remains of dead stars about as massive as the Sun. Following the loss of significant amounts of mass during their death throes, these stellar corpses typically settle down to bodies about the size of Earth.
But, ZTF J1901+1458 is different — this white dwarf is incredibly small — just 4,280 kilometers (2,660 miles) from side to side — the distance between Los Angeles and Washington DC. ZTF J1901+1458 is no lightweight, however. This moon-sized white dwarf, 130 light years from Earth, is 35 percent more massive than the Sun.
This immense mass and density place it right at the Chandrasekhar limit — any more massive, and ZTF J1901+1458 would explode in a supernova eruption.
“We caught this very interesting object that wasn’t quite massive enough to explode. We are truly probing how massive a white dwarf can be,” explains Ilaria Caiazzo, astrophysicist at Caltech.
Read more: https://thecosmiccompanion.net/meet-ztf-j19011458-the-smallest-densest-white-dwarf-ever-seen
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