Astronomers say they’ve discovered the first green star
Astronomers have identified the first white dwarf star that appears green to the human eye due to unique atmospheric interactions. The discovery helps scientists analyze the chemical composition of planetary debris that falls onto these stars.
Why it matters
This finding provides a new diagnostic tool for researchers to study the formation and composition of planetary systems outside our own.
Astronomers analyzing white dwarf stars have for the first time found a star that would appear green to human eyes, according to a new study. Related video above: New images of the sun show its surface in the finest detail yet While for most stars, color is temperature-dependent and limited to a few hues, white dwarfs, which are the dense remnants of sun-like stars that have died, can glow in an incredible range of colors, said lead study author Mark Hollands, an astrophysicist at the University of Warwick, England, on Thursday. "The colors that normal stars can have are pretty much only orange, white or blue," Hollands told CNN. "What we found is, for most white dwarfs, that’s the same as well.
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