2025/02/18 by Keaton J. Bell, Bell, Keaton J. · 1 voice
Physics and Astronomy · Social Sciences · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Educational Leadership and Practices #FOS: Physical sciences #Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR) #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph.SR
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2502.13258
openalex publication_date 2025/02/18 · arxiv published 2025/02/18 · arxiv updated 2025/02/18 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
There are a few different mechanisms that can cause white dwarf stars to vary in brightness, providing opportunities to probe the physics, structures, and formation of these compact stellar remnants. The observational characteristics of the three most common types of white dwarf variability are summarized: stellar pulsations, rotation, and ellipsoidal variations from tidal distortion in binary systems. Stellar pulsations are emphasized as the most complex type of variability, which also has the greatest potential to reveal the conditions of white dwarf interiors.