Is a characteristic of a white dwarf star?

Answer 1

The end state of a star, whether it will explode as a supernova and become a black hole (or neutron star), or if the star simply becomes a white dwarf without undergoing any kind of explosive transformation is determined by its mass. To form a supernova in this way the original star needs to be about 8 times as massive as the Sun.

But you should also recognise that white dwarf stars can also become supernova if they orbit another star in a binary system and steal material from their companion. Such a mass stealing white dwarf may undergo several 'nova' explosions as hydrogen fusion starts on their surfaces and, if they accumulate enough mass (above the Chandrasekhar limit of about 1.38 solar masses), they explode as supernovae.

Answer 2

The original mass of the star. However, it's not that simple, a lot of things need to happen before that - [See Related] Generally however a small star like our Sun will become a white dwarf, while larger hypergiants [See link] have the potential to become black holes. [See related]

Answer 3

The determining factor is the amount of mass remaining, once the star runs out of fuel. For example, in the case of massive stars, that would be the mass remaining after the supernova explosion.

Answer 4

How mass determines the fate of a star at the end of its life relates to the balancing act between outward pressure and the inward pull of gravity. Once the nuclear fuel is spent, thermal energy is no longer adequate to maintain the star's shape and the star collapses, if the electron degeneracy pressure (see Pauli exclusion principle) is adequate to prevent further collapse, the star may become a white dwarf. If its mass is above roughly 1.4 solar masses the weight is too much, and it would further collapse down to a much more compact neutron star. In this case, neutron degeneracy pressure prevents further collapse, up to a new mass limit (the TOV limit) reflecting properties of neutron degenerate matter. If the mass is yet greater than this limit, the object may further collapse to a more exotic and less fully understood object such as a quark star comprising quark degenerate matter or to one of several other proposed objects composed of forms of exotic matter each of which may have their own mass limits. At each stage, the density increases and size decreases. A black hole would be the final stage where the mass is too great to resist any balancing outward pressure and gravitational force collapses the object down to infinite density.

Answer 5

It's mass. High mass stars > 20 Suns, will normally produce a supernova event. Our Sun will evolve into a white dwarf.

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Answer 6

A white dwarf star is hot and dense, it is the exposed core of a dead star. Since a white dwarf cannot undergo nuclear fusion, they would cool down into a black dwarf in a few billion years.

Answer 7

See related questions.