Home / Science / Astronomers Find First Green Star in Cosmic First
Astronomers Find First Green Star in Cosmic First
16 Oct
Summary
- A white dwarf star glows green due to sodium's altered light absorption.
- The star, WD J1330+6435, ingested debris from its former planets.
- Other rare white dwarf colors include salmon pink and pale blue.
Astronomers have documented the first real green star, a dense stellar remnant known as a white dwarf. This celestial body, WD J1330+6435, orbits approximately 280 light-years from Earth in the constellation Draco. It acquired its chartreuse color after absorbing rocky fragments from planets that previously orbited it.
The star's unusual hue is attributed to its high density and the presence of sodium. Unlike in ordinary stars, the sodium in this white dwarf absorbs yellow, orange, and red light wavelengths due to bombardment by helium atoms. This leaves the star with a distinct green glow, a phenomenon impossible for sun-like stars.
This discovery, part of a project to assess white dwarf colors, reveals that these dense remnants, typically Earth-sized with half the sun's mass, exhibit a range of colors. The study also identified a salmon pink star, WD J1011+2845, 48 light-years away, colored by carbon. Other white dwarfs showed pink, purple, yellow, cyan, and pale blue hues depending on their atmospheric composition.
