White Dwarfs

This is the last stage of the protostars.

White dwarfs are stars that have burned up all of the hydrogen they once used as nuclear fuel.

Gravity causes the last of the star's matter to collapse inward and compact, this is the white dwarf stage.

At this stage the star's matter is extremely dense.

White dwarfs shine with a hot light.

These ancient stars are incredibly dense. A teaspoonful of their matter would weigh as much on Earth as an elephant—5.5 tons. White dwarfs typically have a radius just .01 times that of our own sun, but their mass is about the same.

The star has now reached the black dwarf phase in which it will forever remain.