Is a white dwarf the same as a black hole?

Stars that have a lot of mass may end their lives as black holes or neutron stars. A low or medium mass star (with mass less than about 8 times the mass of our Sun) will become a white dwarf. This makes white dwarfs one of the densest forms of matter, surpassed only by neutron stars and black holes.

How does a white dwarf become a black hole?

White dwarf formation The most massive stars, with eight times the mass of the sun or more, will never become white dwarfs. Instead, at the end of their lives, white dwarfs will explode in a violent supernova, leaving behind a neutron star or black hole.

What happens when a white dwarf turns into a black dwarf?

But the white dwarf remains hot for some time, much like a stove burner still emits heat even when it has been turned off. After an extremely long time, all of the leftover heat will have radiated away. No longer emitting heat or light, the white dwarf will become a black dwarf.

What kind of star is our sun?

type yellow-dwarf main sequence star
Our Sun is categorized as a G-type yellow-dwarf main sequence star. It is predicted that our Sun will remain in the main sequence phase for a few billion more years.

What is a white dwarf?

A white dwarf is a very dense solar remnant that is supported by the balance between electron degeneracy pressure and the star’s gravitational self-attraction (3). A white dwarf’s mass is about that of the sun’s mass but what makes them so interesting is that their size (diameter) is about that of the earth.

Why don’t white dwarfs collapse like other stars?

Because white dwarfs have (relatively) small mass, this pressure is sufficient to stop them from collapsing further. The Sun is eventually going to become a white dwarf.

What happens when a star becomes a black hole?

This kind of star eventually becomes a black hole – a large amount of mass condensed in a small point in space, an extremely dense object. It is called a black hole because once the star becomes smaller than a certain size, its gravity is so great that nothing – including light – can escape it.

Where do black holes come from?

Black holes are produced at the end of a very massive star’s life cycle. Above is just a general image of a white dwarf and below is a white dwarf in a binary system that is gaining mass (accretion) from a red giant. White dwarfs are the most common final stage in the life cycle of most stars in the universe.