Question

Search the Internet and find masses of some white dwarfs.

Compared them with the Chandrasekhar mass.

Answer 1

Here are some examples of white dwarf masses:

1. Sirius B: 0.98 solar masses

2. Procyon B: 0.61 solar masses

3. 40 Eridani B: 0.48 solar masses

4. Van Maanen 2: 0.68 solar masses

5. Stein 2051 B: 0.60 solar masses

The Chandrasekhar mass is the maximum mass that a white dwarf can have before it collapses into a neutron star or black hole. It is approximately 1.4 solar masses. As we can see from the examples above, all of the white dwarfs listed have masses significantly lower than the Chandrasekhar mass. This means that they are stable and will not collapse further.