W is for White Dwarf

Today, as we move into the doldrums of the skies in our A-Z challenge, we’re at the letter W.  There are no constellations that begin with a “W”, so we’ll have to look elsewhere for a heavenly body to admire.  Today, it will be a “White Dwarf.”  No, this is not one of Snow White’s Caucasian Suitors (which one of the seven dwarfs would that be?). 

Wrong Dwarfs (and shouldn't snow white be a blonde?)

Instead, I am speaking of a particular type of star, of which we have a hard time seeing because they are so dim.  White dwarfs are stars that are on their way out, so to speak, having burned up their fuel, they now remain as a dense compact core that slowly cools.  There is still enough heat and energy to emit some light, but fusion has stopped and at some point in the next dozen or so billions of years, the star will switch off its light and become a black dwarf (of which none is currently known to exist, but then the solar system is vast and a dark star could hide anywhere).  The closest white dwarf is a binary star to Sirius.

Now, I should have never said "never" when it comes to Mr. Jupiter.  There is no reason for this blog to go back to its normal G-rating.  Tomorrow, I have a surprised cooked up for you that includes another Don Juan Jupiter’s exploits.  I’ve been worrying for some time what to say about the letter “X”.  I had originally thought I’d write something about navigation but that’s not as fun...  As I pondered about my situation, I finally came up with another idea.  Stay tuned (and keep the kiddies away for another day as the blog will remain PG13)!