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Loading contentThe dense, Earth-sized remnant left when a low- or medium-mass star sheds its outer layers.
A white dwarf is the exposed core of a star like the Sun, supported against gravity by electron degeneracy pressure. Above the Chandrasekhar limit (about 1.4 solar masses) it cannot survive — a fact that makes exploding white dwarfs (Type Ia supernovae) the standard candles used to discover dark energy.
| Maximum mass (Chandrasekhar limit) | ≈ 1.4 M☉ | NASA |
Facts on this topic will be cited from these primary and reference sources.
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