Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Chandrashekhar limit

                                 Chandrashekhar limit

Chandrashekhar limit is the maximum mass of a stable white dwarf star. This limit was predicted by Chandrashekhar in 1930.
White dwarfs , unlike main sequence stars , resist gravitational collapse primarly through electron degeneracy pressure ,rather than the thermal pressure.
The Chandrashekhar limit is the mass above which electron degeneracy pressure in the star's core is insufficient to balance star's own gravitational attraction. The white dwarfs which are having the mass greater than this limit , undergo further gravitational collapse , evolving into neutron stars or black holes. The white dwarfs having the mass under this limit , will remain stable as white dwarfs.
The currently accepted value is
             1.44 M ( 2.864 * 10 ^ 30 kg)
where M= mass of white dwarf

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