Astronomers discover a ghostly green star unlike any known before
Astronomers have identified white dwarf stars that display a wide range of colors, including a rare green star, challenging the long-held belief that these stars only appear white or blue. The unique colors are caused by the extreme density of the stars' atmospheres, which alters how they emit light.
Why it matters
This discovery expands our understanding of stellar evolution and the physical properties of dense, dead stars, providing new insights into how light interacts with extreme matter.
Astronomers at the University of Warwick have discovered that white dwarf stars can display a surprising variety of colors, including green, pink, purple, yellow, and cyan. Among their findings is the first known star that would appear genuinely green to the human eye.
For most stars, color is closely tied to temperature. Cooler stars appear orange, stars like our Sun look white, and the hottest stars shine pale blue. The relationship is similar to heating a piece of iron, which changes from red to orange and eventually white as its temperature rises.
White dwarfs, the extremely dense remains of stars similar to our Sun, were long believed to follow this same pattern. In fact, they received their name because the first examples discovered were unusually hot and appeared white or pale blue. However, scientists have now found that these stellar remnants can produce a much broader spectrum of colors.
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