white dwarf
noun
plural white dwarfs
: a small hot whitish star of low intrinsic brightness usually with a mass approximately equal to that of the sun but with a density many times larger
Examples of white dwarf in a Sentence
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The hypothesis was based on the taking of distance measurements to faraway galaxies using type 1a supernovae, stellar explosions that occur in twin star systems where one of the stars is a white dwarf.
—
Ian Randall, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Nov. 2025
Meanwhile, Type la supernovas occur when a white dwarf star undergoes a thermonuclear explosion, reaching nearly the same peak brightness each time.
—Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Space.com, 4 Nov. 2025
It wasn’t discovered with the Hubble space telescope, but in all the years since, the Hubble space telescope has been our best tool to identify and measure these white dwarfs that explode as type Ia supernova, enabling us to draw these fascinating conclusions.
—Big Think, 17 Oct. 2025
Another potential cause is a white dwarf — a dead star as heavy as our sun but condensed to the size of Earth — being ripped apart by a rare intermediate-mass black hole.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 22 Sep. 2025
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Ian Randall, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Nov. 2025
Meanwhile, Type la supernovas occur when a white dwarf star undergoes a thermonuclear explosion, reaching nearly the same peak brightness each time.
—Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Space.com, 4 Nov. 2025
It wasn’t discovered with the Hubble space telescope, but in all the years since, the Hubble space telescope has been our best tool to identify and measure these white dwarfs that explode as type Ia supernova, enabling us to draw these fascinating conclusions.
—Big Think, 17 Oct. 2025
Another potential cause is a white dwarf — a dead star as heavy as our sun but condensed to the size of Earth — being ripped apart by a rare intermediate-mass black hole.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 22 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for white dwarf
Cite this Entry
“White dwarf.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/white%20dwarf. Accessed 8 Nov. 2025.
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