This is a list of exceptional white dwarf stars.

Firsts

These were the first white dwarfs discovered fitting these conditions

Title Star Date Data Comments Notes Refs
First discovered Sirius B 1852 Sirius system Sirius B is also the nearest white dwarf (as of 2005) [1][2]
First found in a binary star system
First double white dwarf system LDS 275 1944 L 462-56 system [3]
First solitary white dwarf Van Maanen 2 1917 Van Maanen's star is also the nearest solitary white dwarf [4]
First white dwarf with a planet WD B1620−26 2003 PSR B1620-26 b (planet) This planet is a circumbinary planet, which circles both stars in the PSR B1620-26 system [5][6]
First singular white dwarf with a planet WD 1145+017 2015 WD 1145+017 b Planet is extremely small and is disintegrating.
First white dwarf that is a pulsar AR Scorpii A 2016 The star is in a binary system with a red dwarf [7]

Extremes

These are the white dwarfs which are currently known to fit these conditions

Title Star Date Data Comments Notes Refs
Nearest Sirius 1852 8.6 ly (2.6 pc) Sirius B is also the second white dwarf discovered.
See also: § Nearest
 [1][2]
Farthest SN UDS10Wil progenitor 2013 10,000,000,000 ly z=1.914 SN Wilson is a type-Ia supernova whose progenitor was a white dwarf [8][9][10]
Oldest WD 0343+247
SDSS J110217.48+411315.4 		2012 12 Gy (tied)
Youngest SDSS J0003+0718 2011 < 13 My provisional estimate
Highest surface temperature RX J0439.8−6809 2015 250,000 K (250,000 °C; 450,000 °F) This star is located in the Milky Way's galactic halo, in the field of the Large Magellanic Cloud [11][12]
Lowest surface temperature LSPM J1403+4533 2010 2,670 K (2,400 °C; 4,350 °F) Quite a large margin of error (1,500 K (1,230 °C; 2,240 °F)) [13]
Most luminous Z Andromedae B 1,500 - 9,800 L☉ [14]
Least luminous PSR J2222-0137 B 2014 too dim to observe
Brightest apparent Sirius 1852 8.44 (V)
Dimmest apparent PSR J2222-0137 B 2014 too dim to observe
Most massive (contender) RE J0317-853 1998 1.35 M☉
Most massive (contender) ZTF J1901+1458[15] 2020 1.35 M☉
Least massive SDSS J091709.55+463821.8 2007 0.17 M☉
Largest Z Andromedae B 0.265±0.095 R☉
Smallest HD 49798 2021 0.0023 R☉ [16]

Nearest

10 nearest white dwarfs
Star Distance Comments Notes Refs
Sirius B 8.58 ly (2.63 pc) Sirius B is also the second white dwarf discovered. It is part of the Sirius system. [1][2][17][18]
Procyon B 11.43 ly (3.50 pc) Part of Procyon system [17][18]
van Maanen's Star 14.04 ly (4.30 pc) [17][18]
GJ 440 15.09 ly (4.63 pc) [17]
40 Eridani B 16.25 ly (4.98 pc) Part of 40 Eridani system [17][18]
Stein 2051 B 18.06 ly (5.54 pc) Part of Stein 2051 system [17][18]
LP 44-113 20.0 ly (6.1 pc) [18]
G 99-44 20.9 ly (6.4 pc) [18]
L 97-12 25.8 ly (7.9 pc) [18]
Wolf 489 26.7 ly (8.2 pc) [18]

Other notable white dwarfs

References

  1. ^ a b c Atlas of the Universe, "The Universe within 12.5 Light Years: The Nearest Stars", Richard Powell, 30 July 2006 (accessed 2010-11-01)
  2. ^ a b c BBC News, "Hubble finds mass of white dwarf", Christine McGourty, 14 December 2005 (accessed 2010-11-01)
  3. ^ W. J. Luyten (September 1944). "Note on the Double White Dwarf L 462-56 = LDS 275". Astrophysical Journal. 100: 202. Bibcode:1944ApJ...100..202L. doi:10.1086/144658.
  4. ^ Schatzman, Évry (1958), White Dwarfs, North Holland Publishing Company, p. 2.
  5. ^ Steinn Sigurdsson; Harvey B. Richer; Brad M. Hansen; Ingrid H. Stairs; Stephen E. Thorsett (July 2003). "A Young White Dwarf Companion to Pulsar B1620-26: Evidence for Early Planet Formation". Science. 301 (5630): 193–196. arXiv:astro-ph/0307339. Bibcode:2003Sci...301..193S. doi:10.1126/science.1086326. PMID 12855802. S2CID 39446560.
  6. ^ "Looking for planets around white dwarfs". Professor Astronomy. 20 August 2010.
  7. ^ Hambsch, Franz-Josef. "Amateurs Help Discover Pulsing White Dwarf". Sky and Telescope.
  8. ^ Jason Major (5 April 2013). "Hubble Spots the Most Distant Supernova Ever". Discovery Channel.
  9. ^ "CANDELS Finds the Most Distant Type Ia Supernova Yet Observed". Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS). 23 April 2013.
  10. ^ David O. Jones; Steven A. Rodney; Adam G. Riess; Bahram Mobasher; Tomas Dahlen; Curtis McCully; Teddy F. Frederiksen; Stefano Casertano; Jens Hjorth; Charles R. Keeton; Anton Koekemoer; Louis-Gregory Strolger; Tommy G. Wiklind; Peter Challis; Or Graur; Brian Hayden; Brandon Patel; Benjamin J. Weiner; Alexei V. Filippenko; Peter Garnavich; Saurabh W. Jha; Robert P. Kirshner; Henry C. Ferguson; Norman A. Grogin; Dale Kocevski (2 April 2013). "The Discovery of the Most Distant Known Type Ia Supernova at Redshift 1.914". The Astrophysical Journal (published May 2013). 768 (2): 166. arXiv:1304.0768. Bibcode:2013ApJ...768..166J. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/768/2/166. S2CID 118890248. 166.
  11. ^ Universitaet Tübingen (24 November 2015). "The hottest white dwarf in the Galaxy". Science Daily.
  12. ^ K. Werner; T. Rauch (29 September 2015). "Analysis of HST/COS spectra of the bare C–O stellar core H1504+65 and a high-velocity twin in the Galactic halo". Astronomy and Astrophysics (published December 2015). 584: A19. arXiv:1509.08942. Bibcode:2015A&A...584A..19W. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201527261. S2CID 118458007. A19.
  13. ^ Kilic, Mukremin; Leggett, S. K.; Tremblay, P. -E.; von Hippel, Ted; Bergeron, P.; Harris, Hugh C.; Munn, Jeffrey A.; Williams, Kurtis A.; Gates, Evalyn; Farihi, J. (2010-09-01). "A Detailed Model Atmosphere Analysis of Cool White Dwarfs in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey". The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. 190 (1): 77–99. arXiv:1007.2859. Bibcode:2010ApJS..190...77K. doi:10.1088/0067-0049/190/1/77. hdl:2152/43067. ISSN 0067-0049. S2CID 4571557.
  14. ^ Sokoloski, J. L.; Kenyon, S. J.; Espey, B. R.; Keyes, Charles D.; McCandliss, S. R.; Kong, A. K. H.; Aufdenberg, J. P.; Filippenko, A. V.; Li, W.; Brocksopp, C.; Kaiser, Christian R.; Charles, P. A.; Rupen, M. P.; Stone, R. P. S. (2006-01-10). "A "Combination Nova" Outburst in Z Andromedae: Nuclear Shell Burning Triggered by a Disk Instability". The Astrophysical Journal. 636 (2): 1002–1019. arXiv:astro-ph/0509638. Bibcode:2006ApJ...636.1002S. doi:10.1086/498206. ISSN 0004-637X. S2CID 8941207.
  15. ^ "A White Dwarf Living on the Edge". California Institute of Technology. 2021-06-30. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
  16. ^ "New X-ray observations of the hot subdwarf binary HD 49798/RX J0648.0–4418". academic.oup.com. Retrieved 2023-01-08.
  17. ^ a b c d e f David Taylor (2012). "White Dwarf Stars Near The Earth" (PDF). The Life and Death of Stars. Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences - Northwestern University.
  18. ^ a b c d e f g h i "White dwarfs within 10 parsecs". Sol Station. 2011.
  19. ^ Caiazzo, Ilaria; Burdge, Kevin B.; Tremblay, Pier-Emmanuel; Fuller, James; Ferrario, Lilia; Gänsicke, Boris T.; Hermes, J. J.; Heyl, Jeremy; Kawka, Adela; Kulkarni, S. R.; Marsh, Thomas R.; Mróz, Przemek; Prince, Thomas A.; Richer, Harvey B.; Rodriguez, Antonio C. (2023-07-19). "A rotating white dwarf shows different compositions on its opposite faces". Nature: 1–6. arXiv:2308.07430. doi:10.1038/s41586-023-06171-9. ISSN 1476-4687.
  20. ^ "Two-Faced Star Exposed". California Institute of Technology. 2023-07-19. Retrieved 2023-07-31.

See also

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