| a star, approximately the size of the earth, that has undergone gravitational collapse and is in the final stage of evolution for low-mass stars, beginning hot and white and ending cold and dark (black dwarf). |
| white dwarf n. The remnant of a star that has collapsed, having an extremely dense state with no empty space between its atoms, but not reaching the extremely dense state of a neutron star or black hole. |
A kind of star about the size of the Earth. White dwarfs represent a final stage of the life cycle of stars similar to the sun; they are formed when the stars use up their fuel and can no longer support nuclear reactions.
