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Collection:
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NASA Hubble Space Telescope Collection
Collection
NASA Hubble Space Telescope Collection
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Title:
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Merger of Two White Dwarf Stars
Title
Merger of Two White Dwarf Stars
Title
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Acknowledgement:
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*Credit:* Dana Berry, ST ScI Astronomy Visualization Laboratory
Acknowledgement
*Credit:* Dana Berry, ST ScI Astronomy Visualization Laboratory
Acknowledgement
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Fast Facts:
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note:
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*Image Type:*: Illustration
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*Image Type:*: Illustration
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note:
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*Release Date*:June 24, 1992 12:00 AM (EDT)
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*Release Date*:June 24, 1992 12:00 AM (EDT)
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*News Release Number:*: STScI-1992-18a
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*News Release Number:*: STScI-1992-18a
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*Title*:Merger of Two White Dwarf Stars
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*Title*:Merger of Two White Dwarf Stars
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*Description*:
This artist's illustration shows three steps in the merger of a pair of white dwarf stars. The illustration depicts how planets may form around massive white dwarfs and is based upon theoretical studies by astronomers Mario Livio, Jim Pringle, and Rex Saffer of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, MD.
At least half of the stars in our Milky Way galaxy are double star systems. During their evolution such systems may undergo a phase in which the cores of the two stars revolve inside a tenuous common envelope. The end product of such a phase can be a close pair of very compact objects known as white dwarfs (white dwarfs are stars late in their evolution, which have contracted to the size of Earth but retain as much mass as the Sun).
MERGER SEQUENCE:
* As the white dwarfs orbit each other, the less massive white dwarf spirals close in to its more massive - and hence more compact ? companion. * Gravitational tidal forces disrupt the less massive star because it is physically larger and more easily stretched by the intense gravity of the compact companion white dwarf. * Though most of the material falls directly onto the white dwarf, some spreads into a broad flattened disk. Planets might agglomerate in the surrounding disk. The white dwarf disk would have about the same size and mass as the protostellar disk which accompanied our Sun's formation, but would be predominantly made of carbon and oxygen.
note
*Description*:
This artist's illustration shows three steps in the merger of a pair of white dwarf stars. The illustration depicts how planets may form around massive white dwarfs and is based upon theoretical studies by astronomers Mario Livio, Jim Pringle, and Rex Saffer of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, MD.
At least half of the stars in our Milky Way galaxy are double star systems. During their evolution such systems may undergo a phase in which the cores of the two stars revolve inside a tenuous common envelope. The end product of such a phase can be a close pair of very compact objects known as white dwarfs (white dwarfs are stars late in their evolution, which have contracted to the size of Earth but retain as much mass as the Sun).
MERGER SEQUENCE:
* As the white dwarfs orbit each other, the less massive white dwarf spirals close in to its more massive - and hence more compact ? companion. * Gravitational tidal forces disrupt the less massive star because it is physically larger and more easily stretched by the intense gravity of the compact companion white dwarf. * Though most of the material falls directly onto the white dwarf, some spreads into a broad flattened disk. Planets might agglomerate in the surrounding disk. The white dwarf disk would have about the same size and mass as the protostellar disk which accompanied our Sun's formation, but would be predominantly made of carbon and oxygen.
note
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facet_what:
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Sun
facet_what
Sun
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Earth
facet_what
Earth
facet_what
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facet_what:
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REX
facet_what
REX
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Hubble Space Telescope (HST)
facet_what
Hubble Space Telescope (HST)
facet_what
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facet_what:
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stars
facet_what
stars
facet_what
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facet_where:
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Milky Way Galaxy
facet_where
Milky Way Galaxy
facet_where
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facet_where:
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M51
facet_where
M51
facet_where
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facet_when:
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June 24, 1992
facet_when
June 24, 1992
facet_when
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facet_when_year:
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1992
facet_when_year
1992
facet_when_year
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UID:
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SPD-HUBBLE-STScI-199 2-18a
UID
SPD-HUBBLE-STScI-199 2-18a
UID
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original url:
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original_url
original url
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Release Date:
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June 24, 1992 12:00 AM (EDT)
Release_Date
June 24, 1992 12:00 AM (EDT)
Release Date
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