Biography
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar showed that a white dwarf cannot exceed about 1.4 solar masses — the Chandrasekhar limit — above which gravity wins and the star collapses to a neutron star or black hole. First proposed when he was just 19, the result was famously disputed by Eddington but eventually recognised with the 1983 Nobel Prize.
Scientific contributions
- Derived the Chandrasekhar limit for white dwarf mass
- Founded much of the theory of stellar structure and evolution
- Awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics (1983)
Awards
Knowledge connections
- Namesake ofChandra X-ray Observatory
- Part ofModern Astronomy
- ReceivedNobel Prize in Physics
- StudiesBlack Hole
- StudiesNeutron Star
- StudiesWhite Dwarf
- Associated withElectron Degeneracy Pressure
Sources & references
The primary and reference sources this topic draws on.
- NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration
Mission data, planetary science, space telescopes, and public-domain imagery.
Most NASA-produced imagery is in the public domain; individual items are checked for usage terms before publication.
- The Nobel PrizeThe Nobel Foundation
Official record of Nobel laureates, prize motivations, and award years.