During what stage does a star become a white dwarf?

A white dwarf is what stars like the Sun become after they have exhausted their nuclear fuel. Near the end of its nuclear burning stage, this type of star expels most of its outer material, creating a planetary nebula. Only the hot core of the star remains.

Do stars begin their life as a white dwarf?

Small stars, like the Sun, will undergo a relatively peaceful and beautiful death that sees them pass through a planetary nebula phase to become a white dwarf, which eventually cools down over time and stops glowing to become a so-called “black dwarf”.

What determines if a star will become a white dwarf or supernova?

How the stars evolve through their lifetime depends on their mass. The most massive stars, with eight times the mass of the sun or more, will never become white dwarfs. Instead, at the end of their lives, white dwarfs will explode in a violent supernova, leaving behind a neutron star or black hole.

What are the characteristics of a white dwarf?

White dwarf stars, so called because of the white colour of the first few that were discovered, are characterized by a low luminosity, a mass on the order of that of the Sun, and a radius comparable to that of Earth.

Which stars become white dwarfs?

A low or medium mass star (with mass less than about 8 times the mass of our Sun) will become a white dwarf. A typical white dwarf is about as massive as the Sun, yet only slightly bigger than the Earth. This makes white dwarfs one of the densest forms of matter, surpassed only by neutron stars and black holes.

What are the 7 stages of a star?

Formation of Stars Like the Sun

• STAGE 1: AN INTERSTELLAR CLOUD.
• STAGE 2: A COLLAPSING CLOUD FRAGMENT.
• STAGE 3: FRAGMENTATION CEASES.
• STAGE 4: A PROTOSTAR.
• STAGE 5: PROTOSTELLAR EVOLUTION.
• STAGE 6: A NEWBORN STAR.
• STAGE 7: THE MAIN SEQUENCE AT LAST.

What are the 6 stages of a star?

All stars, irrespective of their size, follow the same 7 stage cycle, they start as a gas cloud and end as a star remnant.

• Giant Gas Cloud. A star originates from a large cloud of gas.
• Protostar.
• T-Tauri Phase.
• Main Sequence.
• Red Giant.
• The Fusion of Heavier Elements.
• Supernovae and Planetary Nebulae.