black dwarf

noun

plural black dwarfs
: a very small cooled remnant of white dwarf that emits no detectable light

Examples of black dwarf in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web For low- to medium-mass stars like the sun, that’s pretty much it; over the eons, a solitary white dwarf will gradually cool down, slowly fading to become a so-far-theoretical inert lump called a black dwarf. Phil Plait, Scientific American, 2 Aug. 2024 Eventually, though, even that white dwarf will dim, becoming a black dwarf at its uttermost end. Stephen C. George, Discover Magazine, 18 Apr. 2023 Red dwarfs will lose their ability to continue fusion, turning into black dwarfs—a strange kind of non-radiating stellar object that does not yet exist in our comparatively young universe. Popular Mechanics, 7 Mar. 2023 The creation of each black dwarf star—along with black hole evaporation and darkened galaxies—will leave behind iron chunks of former planets, comets and stars, and trace subatomic particles and energy. Caroline Delbert, Popular Mechanics, 3 Mar. 2022 These positrons would ever-so-slowly destroy some of the electrons in a black dwarf’s center and weaken its degeneracy pressure. Adam Mann, Science | AAAS, 11 Aug. 2020 But eventually, these relics cool off and become a black dwarf. Adam Mann, Science | AAAS, 11 Aug. 2020 These tiny, denser stellar husks eventually fade into elusive black dwarf stars, which are nearly undetectable by astronomers. Jennifer Leman, Popular Mechanics, 13 June 2020 Right before either going supernova or turning into a black dwarf, dying stars turn into white dwarves. Jennifer Leman, Popular Mechanics, 1 Apr. 2020

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'black dwarf.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1925, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of black dwarf was in 1925

Dictionary Entries Near black dwarf

Cite this Entry

“Black dwarf.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/black%20dwarf. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

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