All articles tagged with #white dwarf
New simulations suggest the outer solar system will disassemble within one billion years after the Sun becomes a white dwarf, a timeline a billion times shorter than previous estimates. The instability is driven by random, directional mass ejections from the dying Sun, which destabilize planetary orbits far sooner than smooth mass loss models predicted.
New research from Caltech indicates the outer planets will be ejected from the solar system roughly one billion years after the Sun becomes a white dwarf, a timeline a billion times shorter than previous estimates. The study attributes this accelerated collapse to random, violent mass ejections from the dying Sun, which destabilize planetary orbits far sooner than smooth mass loss models predicted.
Recent research indicates that the Sun's transition into a white dwarf could destabilize the outer solar system far faster than previously thought. Instead of remaining stable for trillions of years, simulations suggest Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune could be ejected into interstellar space within roughly one billion years. This accelerated timeline is driven by random mass ejections during the Sun's red giant phase, which impart velocity kicks to planetary orbits, causing them to break down before the star fully settles into its final state.
New simulations by Konstantin Batygin and colleagues at the California Institute of Technology suggest the outer solar system may disassemble within one billion years after the Sun becomes a white dwarf, a timeframe a billion times shorter than previous estimates. The study accounts for random, directional mass ejections during the Sun’s red giant phase, which create velocity kicks that destabilize planetary orbits. While smooth mass loss models predicted stability for over 10^18 years, stochastic ejections with masses around 10^-4 solar masses could trigger instability before the white dwarf stage even completes, with 90% of simulations showing breakdown within three billion years.
The Shrimp Nebula (Sh2-188) is a large planetary nebula spanning half the Moon's diameter, featuring a fast-moving white-dwarf core that generates a bow shock similar to a boat plowing through water.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope provides a detailed infrared view of the Lion’s Head Nebula, a planetary nebula formed as a Sun-like star shed its outer layers, leaving a hot white dwarf at the core that ionizes surrounding gas to sculpt a lion-like face, with surviving dust creating the mane; the new image helps scientists study gas-dust interactions and radiation effects in dying stars.
Warhammer Community previews Necromunda’s new edition reinforcements for Houses Goliath and Escher: eight Goliath Forge Smelters, a Forge Bosses and Sumpkrocs pack, and Underhive Journal books with new rules and dice; Escher gains Blades of the Matriarchs and expanded chem-alchemy options, plus more Underhive lore. The piece also highlights White Dwarf 528 content, Black Library novels, and upcoming Necromunda reveals and Warhammer TV features.
Warhammer Community’s Sunday Preview outlines next week’s pre-orders across The Old World, led by Chaos on a dragon and the Champions of Chaos, plus Chaos Warriors and Chaos Knights, and Battle March sets; Blood Bowl adds Morg ‘n’ Thorg, a Minotaur, and a Rat Ogre (with Sevens content), while White Dwarf 527, a Bjorn the Fell-Handed Limited Edition, Arcane Journal and Arcane Magic Ploys Card Pack, Warhammer+ features, and related lore/painting content are showcased.
White Dwarf issue 527 previews the new Warhammer 40,000 edition, bridging Armageddon events with fresh lore, introduces Space Marines and Orks, and includes a 16-page designer’s commentary on terrain objectives, missions, and movement, plus an Orks vs Blood Angels battle report. It also adds Warhammer Quest: Darkwater rules for the Jade Abbey, offers hobby tips and painting guides, and features a five-part Skaven fiction arc; the issue goes up for pre-order on August 8 with a 12-month subscription option.
Using Hubble, plus NASA’s TESS and ground-based telescopes, astronomers confirmed that the Milky Way’s only known helium nova, V445 Puppis, blasts out fast, oxygen-rich clumps—‘bullets’—traveling about 20 million mph. The system comprises a white dwarf accreting helium from a companion helium-star, a rare binary that sheds light on hydrogen-poor stellar explosions and their potential links to Type Ia supernovae; debris clearing over two decades allowed a clearer view of the eruption and hints that another nova could occur.
Astronomers confirm the Milky Way’s only known helium nova, V445 Puppis, is ejecting gas at speeds up to 20 million mph, including unusual oxygen-rich “bullets” from post-outburst material, providing new insights into nova explosions and their possible connection to Type Ia supernovae.
Astronomers have confirmed the galaxy’s first helium nova, V445 Puppis, a binary system where a white dwarf siphons material from a helium-star companion; after a dust-enshrouded outburst around 2000, the now-visible ejecta include oxygen-rich “bullets” racing through space at up to 20 million mph. Studying this rare explosion helps illuminate how such novae occur and could shed light on the origins of Type Ia supernovae, which are used as standard candles to gauge cosmic distances.
Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope studied WD 1856 b, a Jupiter-sized planet that survived its Sun-like star’s red-giant phase and now orbits a cooling white dwarf about 75 light-years away. The eight-minute grazing transit revealed an atmosphere with methane and hazes, and a surprisingly hot around-400 K temperature, indicating internal reheating rather than just re-radiating energy from the star. The data favor a late inward migration caused by gravitational interactions with distant stellar companions over a common-envelope origin, suggesting more planetary survivors may await discovery near nearby white dwarfs.
A new study proposes that some of the Milky Way’s coldest objects, currently catalogued as stars, could be Dyson swarm energy collectors built by advanced civilizations around red and white dwarfs. Such systems would absorb visible light and re-emit heat as infrared, altering their position on the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram and creating distinctive, cleaner infrared spectra and irregular brightness changes. Astronomers are using JWST and projects like Hephaistos to search for these signatures and distinguish them from natural dust clouds.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope detected an atmosphere around WD 1856 b, a Jupiter-sized planet that orbits the Earth-sized white dwarf WD 1856+534—marking the first atmospheric detection for a world around a dead star. Transmission spectroscopy during a transit revealed hydrocarbons, likely methane, plus a hazy cloud layer and a faint glow from the planet’s night side, indicating residual heat. The planet, about 80 light-years away, completes a close 34-hour orbit and is roughly seven times wider than its star, suggesting a past heating event and likely inward migration after the star’s transformation. The team plans additional Webb transits to better pin down its chemistry and formation history.