White Dwarf Stars Cool
Explanation:
Diminutive by
stellar standards,
white dwarf stars are also
intensely hot ...
but they are cooling.
No longer do their interior
nuclear fires burn, so they will
continue to cool until they fade away.
This Hubble Space Telescope image
covers a small region near the center of a
globular cluster known as
M4.
Here, researchers have
discovered a large concentration of
white dwarf stars (circled above).
This was expected - low mass stars, including the Sun,
are believed to evolve to the
white dwarf stage.
Studying how these
stars cool could lead
to a better understanding of their ages,
of the age of their parent
globular cluster, and
even the
age of our universe.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
