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chandrasekhar limit

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Chan⋅dra⋅se⋅khar lim⋅it

  [shahn-druh-sey-kahr]
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–noun Astronomy.
the mass limit above which a star has too much mass to become a white dwarf after gravitational collapse, approximately 1.44 solar masses.
Origin:
1975–80; after U.S. astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (born 1910), who formulated it
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Science Dictionary
Chandrasekhar limit  
The maximum size of a stable white dwarf, approximately 3 × 1030 kg (about 1.4 times the mass of the Sun). Stars with mass higher than the Chandrasekhar limit ultimately collapse under their own weight and become neutron stars or black holes. Stars with a mass below this limit are prevented from collapsing by the degeneracy pressure of their electrons. See more at degeneracy pressure.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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