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Paradoxically, white dwarf stars shrink as they gain mass

Telescope observations of thousands of these stripped-down stars confirm the trend

planetary nebula NGC 2440

White dwarf stars, like the one inside the planetary nebula NGC 2440 (pictured), have a strange property — the more mass they gain, the smaller the stars get.

K. Noll/STScI, ESA, NASA

By Maria Temming

- More than 2 years ago

Read another version of this article at Science News Explores

Telescope observations have confirmed a weird property of white dwarf stars: As they pack on more mass, they shrink in size.