View Single Post
  #16  
Old 06-10-2014, 11:41 AM
Amaranthus's Avatar
Amaranthus (Barry)
Thylacinus stargazoculus

Amaranthus is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Judbury, Tasmania
Posts: 1,203
Thanks Mike & Louie!

The fading is definitely not due to the white dwarf cooling - it is estimated to take approximately 1 trillion (1000 billion) years to reach the black dwarf stage, so the luminosity change would be imperceptible over a few milllennia. Obviously, there are none in the Universe right now. I think your dust/gas envelopment theory is probably correct.
Reply With Quote