White Dwarfs

White Dwarfs

White dwarfs are faint because they are quite small compared to other stars. Typically, a white dwarf star has the mass of the sun and the radius of the earth. Sometimes a white dwarf is part of a double-star (binary) system, and its gravity attracts material from the other star in the system. When this material hits the surface of a white dwarf, it may begin nuclear fusion briefly, and the system brightens considerably. [VH] {SR} {EP}