Degenerate Stars
In astronomy, the term compact star (sometimes compact object) is used to refer collectively to white dwarfs, neutron stars, other exotic dense stars, and black holes. These objects are all small for their mass. The term compact star is often used when the exact nature of the star is not known, but evidence suggests that it is very massive and has a small radius, thus implying one of the above-mentioned possibilities. A compact star which is not a black hole may be called a degenerate star.
Read more about Degenerate Stars: Compact Stars As The Endpoint of Stellar Evolution, Lifetime, Planets, White Dwarfs, Neutron Stars, Exotic Stars, Black Holes
Famous quotes containing the words degenerate and/or stars:
“It would seem as if the very language of our parlors would lose all its nerve and degenerate into palaver wholly, our lives pass at such remoteness from its symbols, and its metaphors and tropes are necessarily so far fetched.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“When the deep purple falls over sleepy garden walls, and the stars begin to flicker in the sky,”
—Mitchell Parish (1901–1993)