Unlocking the secrets of white dwarf stars

Description

White dwarfs, each containing about as much mass as our Sun but packed into a volume about the size of Earth, are the endpoints of evolution for most stars. Thousands of these faint objects have now been discovered, though only a century ago only three were known. They were armong the most common stars in the Milky Way Galaxy, and they have become important tools in understanding the universe. Yet a century ago only three white dwarfs were known. The existence of these stars completely baffled the scientists of the day, and solving the mysteries of these strange objects required revolutionary advances in science and technology, including the development of quantum physics, the construction and utilization of large telescopes, the invention of the digital computer, and the ability to make astronomical observations from space. This book tells the story of the growth in our understanding of white dwarf stars, set within the context of the relevant scientific and technological advances. Part popular science, part historical narrative, this book is authored by one of the astrophysicists who participated directly in uncovering some of the secrets of white dwarf stars. -- from back cover.;1.The First Clues -- 2.A Star the Size of the Earth? Absurd! -- 3.Great Balls of Fire -- 4.Relativity, Wave-Particle Duality, and the Nature of White Dwarfs -- 5.Star Power -- 6.Still Pretty Hot for a Fading Old Star! -- 7.Stalking the Wild White Dwarf -- 8.The Peculiar Spectra of White Dwarfs -- 9.Interlude: Crossing the Digital Divide -- 10.How to Make a White Dwarf -- 11.Diamonds in the Sky -- 12.The Envelope, Please! -- 13.Leaping into Space -- 14.Decoding the Spectra of White Dwarfs -- 15.The Secrets in the Spectra -- 16.Understanding the White Dwarf Menagerie -- 17.Music of the Spheres -- 18.The Whole Earth Telescope and Asteroseismology -- 19.Magnetic Personalities -- 20.Odd Couples -- 21.White Dwarfs and the Nature of the Milky Way Galaxy -- 22.White Dwarfs and Cosmology -- Appendix A: Some useful astronomical units -- Appendix B: Powers of ten and logarithms -- Appendix C: Chandrasekhar's models for fully degenerate white dwarfs -- Appendix D: "WD numbers" for white dwarfs in this book -- Abbreviations and symbols.