Chandrasekhar's contributions to our understanding of stars and their evolution: The
Chandrasekhar limit," Google explained.
Eventually, they collide and merge and, after exceeding the
Chandrasekhar limit, explode as SN Ia.
When white dwarfs accrete too much material, they burst through a strict weight restriction called the
Chandrasekhar limit and trigger a thermonuclear blast deep inside themselves, self-annihilating in a Type Ia supernova.
White dwarfs explode when their mass exceeds a threshold called the
Chandrasekhar limit, about 1.4 times the mass of the sun.
The key feature of Type Ia SN--which result from the explosion of white dwarf stars that are sucking up material from companion stars--is that they only go off as the white dwarf approaches a critical mass, the
Chandrasekhar limit (1.4 times the mass of our Sun).
It was noticed that the
Chandrasekhar Limit, which is supposed to dictate how large white dwarfs can get before they explode into supernovae, doesn't always apply, which might lead to problems, because that limit has been the foundation for decades of astrophysical science, including estimates of the size of the universe.
If a white dwarf gains too much mass, it approaches the so-called
Chandrasekhar limit, about 1.4 times the mass of our sun, and then something ordinarily impossible happens.
These systems can be formed by a white dwarf and a normal stellar companion that contributes the matter necessary for it to reach a critical mass of 1.4 times the mass of the Sun, the so-called
Chandrasekhar limit.
The extra mass tips the white dwarf past the
Chandrasekhar limit, the point at which the pressure between electrons deep inside can no longer support the dwarf's weight, causing it to collapse.
The key feature of Type Ia supernovae - which result from the explosion of white dwarf stars that are sucking up material from companion stars - is that they only go off as the white dwarf approaches a critical mass, the
Chandrasekhar limit (1.4 times the mass of our Sun).
Most white dwarfs are well below this "
Chandrasekhar limit," weighing in around 0.5 to 0.6 solar mass.
Until recently, it was thought that white dwarfs could not exceed what is known as the
Chandrasekhar limit, a critical mass equaling about 1.4 times that of the Sun, before exploding in a supernova.