2007-04-21 10:30:08 · 11 answers · asked by Sabrina 6 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
A white dwarf is the dead corpse of a star much like the sun. On their own they can´t explode. The have to be part of a binary system.
The white dwarf is what´s left when a small star has run out of hydrogen and helium. When that happens the outer limits of the star puffs off into space leaving the core. Its mass is too tiny for it to become hot enough for fusion beyond helium and so it just sits there radiating off its last heat. But many stars are formed in binary starsystems. The more massive star will die first and when the companion star reaches its giant stage it may begin depositing matter onto the surface of the white dwarf. When enough matter is gathered it begins fusion once more and an explosion occurs. This is called a nova and it doesn´t last long. The white dwarf remains and begins to gather matter from its companion once more.
If the white dwarf is massive enough it might cause the biggest explosions in the universe, the Type I supernova. These are thought to occur when matter is dumped onto a white dwarf that has a mass of very nearly 1.4 times the sun. This is called the Chandrasekhar limit. If it gathers matter that pushes its mass beyond that the whole white dwarf undergoes fusion and explodes. Nothing remains. The same thing would happen if two white dwarfs collided.
2007-04-21 13:52:35 · answer #1 · answered by DrAnders_pHd 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
From what I know, a regular star either explodes or gives off its final bursts of energy and shrinks down to a white dwarf. So a white dwarf itself is usually a star that has already exploded or given off all the matter it's going to.
Hope that helps.
2007-04-21 10:40:50 · answer #2 · answered by Gonz 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Only if there is a stellar companion that can lose mass to it. The hydrogen that would then accumulate as outer layers of the white dwarf would then be heated and could eventually lead to a supernova explosion. This is actually the mechanism of type 1a supernova.
But a white dwarf in isolation cannot explode, as it is the left over from whatever could have produced energy before.
2007-04-21 10:38:25 · answer #3 · answered by Vincent G 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A white dwarf will not explode.
It will eventually accrete enough matter from it's surroundings to over come the degenerate electron pressure that maintains it's status as a white dwarf and it will collapse from 300km in diameter to 12 km in diameter and become a neutron star.
2007-04-21 10:36:49 · answer #4 · answered by Billy Butthead 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No It A Star Usually Blows Up And Becomes A Black-Hole Or Dwarf Star
2007-04-21 14:51:19 · answer #5 · answered by tellih08 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
White dwarf over 1.44 solar masses will explode by carbon detonation. Below that they will just fade away.
2007-04-21 10:34:02 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Why would it? It would have if it ever was going to long before it became a white dwarf.
2007-04-21 10:33:44 · answer #7 · answered by Underground Man 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yep. Type 1a supernovas are white dwarfs that have drawn too much material from a nearby companion and blow to smithereens.
2007-04-21 12:05:59 · answer #8 · answered by Nomadd 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sure, If he eats alot of cabbage and beans and tops it off with a couple of brewskies and some pop-rocks, any dwarf will explode.
2007-04-21 10:41:53 · answer #9 · answered by Lance O 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The Roaming Gnome exploded, does that count?
2007-04-21 10:33:34 · answer #10 · answered by Kilty 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋