white dwarf

Definition of white dwarfnext

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of white dwarf More common novas work in a similar way, but their white dwarfs are smaller, meaning their bursts are much less frequent. Liz Kruesi, Quanta Magazine, 2 Feb. 2026 The system consists of a red giant and a white dwarf orbiting one another. Jamie Carter, Forbes.com, 27 Jan. 2026 Its intense radiation lights up the surrounding gas, creating a rainbow of features: hot ionized gas closest to the white dwarf, cooler molecular hydrogen farther out, and protective pockets where more complex molecules can begin to form within dust clouds. Eric Berger, ArsTechnica, 20 Jan. 2026 To understand a nova, first understand a white dwarf. Keith Matheny, Freep.com, 11 Dec. 2025 See All Example Sentences for white dwarf
Recent Examples of Synonyms for white dwarf
Noun
  • Once a star dies, there are a number of possible fates that can ensue as well, as a stellar corpse can remain as a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole.
    Big Think, Big Think, 14 Apr. 2026
  • While the outer layers of a star explode outward, the innermost layers plunge inward, funneling a fraction of the star’s mass into the black hole (or neutron star if the star’s mass is too small).
    ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 1 Apr. 2026
Noun
  • Using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope, researchers imaged the binary star system AFGL 4106, which sits at the heart of a dusty orange cocoon.
    Daisy Dobrijevic, Space.com, 24 Feb. 2026
  • Situated some 3,000 light-years away in the constellation Corona Borealis is a binary star system poised for a rare thermonuclear display.
    Michael d'Estries, Travel + Leisure, 15 Feb. 2026
Noun
  • But with patience and a spirit of exploration, each step reveals a surprise: tiny red stars, minute purple pinpoints, a wash of pink-white across a creek.
    Alissa Greenberg, Mercury News, 13 Apr. 2026
  • Discovered in 1999, this small red star has no fewer than seven rocky planets in its habitable zone.
    Joanna Thompson, Space.com, 28 Mar. 2026
Noun
  • Bradley Schaefer, an astronomer at Louisiana State University, focuses on cataclysmic variable stars, objects that vary in brightness over time due to some type of major turmoil.
    Liz Kruesi, Quanta Magazine, 2 Feb. 2026
  • In another imaging campaign, API, assisted by AMIGO, was able to produce detailed images of a black hole jet, the volcanic surface of Jupiter's moon Io, and stellar winds emanating from a distant variable star.
    Tereza Pultarova, Space.com, 5 Nov. 2025
Noun
  • But after a long conversation with the guard Saturday, Redick said the most important variable is the player’s confidence.
    Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 28 Apr. 2026
  • The statute of limitations is another critical variable in this equation.
    Angelica Leicht, CBS News, 23 Apr. 2026
Noun
  • The Jupiter-esque planet known as TOI-5205 b is the first exoplanet of its kind with an atmosphere containing far fewer heavy elements than similarly sized objects, as well as its own red dwarf star.
    Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 2 Apr. 2026
  • The research team, led by Yilen Gómez Maqueo Chew of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, detected a transit signal in the light curve of the star TOI-1080, an inactive M4V-type red dwarf.
    Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 16 Mar. 2026
Noun
  • Once orbiting each other, the brown dwarfs would have gradually spiraled closer and closer together, with the gravitational influence of one brown dwarf causing its counterpart to puff out and become less dense.
    Robert Lea, Space.com, 23 Mar. 2026
  • What’s left is likely to be a large gas giant, possibly somewhere between Jupiter and a brown dwarf star in mass.
    ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 2 Jan. 2026
Noun
  • The red giant phase of the sun will be relatively short-lived, expected to last just 1 billion years.
    Robert Lea, Space.com, 23 Apr. 2026
  • Because our Sun will eventually become a red giant, the findings offer insight into its distant future.
    Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 21 Feb. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“White dwarf.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/white%20dwarf. Accessed 3 May. 2026.

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