Newly identified green star leaves astronomers amazed

Astronomers have identified a unique green star, marking the first documented case of a white dwarf displaying a ghostly chartreuse color. Typically, a star's color is determined by its temperature, with cooler stars appearing orange and hotter ones displaying a pale blue hue. However, the color of a white dwarf can change over time due to alterations in its chemistry.

The newly discovered green star, named WD J1330+6435, is located approximately 280 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Draco. White dwarfs are the remnants of low- to medium-mass stars that have exhausted their nuclear fuel and expelled their outer layers. Most white dwarfs have a white color, but certain changes in their chemical composition can result in rarer colors.

The green color of WD J1330+6435 is attributed to the increased density of sodium atoms on its surface, which absorb specific wavelengths of light and leave the star with a green glow. This phenomenon cannot occur in sun-like stars, as their sodium absorption produces a distinct orange color.

The discovery was part of a project examining the color of white dwarfs as perceived by the human eye. White dwarfs are incredibly dense, with a mass roughly equal to that of the Sun but compressed into the size of Earth. The researchers studied 151 white dwarfs within 65 light-years of Earth, finding that the majority of them appeared white. However, one white dwarf, WD J1011+2845, exhibited a salmon pink color due to the presence of carbon on its surface.