Apparently then we have a star of mass about equal to the Sun and of radius much less than Uranus. The calculated density is 61,000 grams per cubic centimeter— just about a ton to the cubic inch. This argument has been known for some years. I think it has generally been considered proper to add the conclusion "which is absurd."
Sir Arthur S. Eddington, The Internal Constitution of the Stars, 1926
Questions to Explore:
How does a star get to be a white dwarf?
What happens to stars too massive to
become white dwarfs?
How are neutron stars and supernovae
related?
What is a pulsar, and how does it produce
pulses?
What is curvature of space, and how is it
an alternative to Newton’s theory of
gravity?
What is a black hole, and how does a
collapsing star form one?
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