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Chandrasekhar Limit
A mass of about 1.4 Sol, the maximum for white dwarfs. A white dwarf of greater mass has too great a central pressure and cannot support itself, causing collapse into a denser object like a neutron star or black hole.
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- Chandrasekhar, Subrahmanyan - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Old Earth Indian-American astrophysicist, 59 BT - 26 AT (1910 -1995 c.e.), who studied stellar physics, evolution, and black holes. He realized that the fate of dying stars depended upon their mass, and above a certain point (1.4 times Sol mass, known as the "Chandrasekhar limit"), a star will undergo extreme collapse and not simply becomes a white dwarf. There are a number of asteroids, habitats, ships, one black hole, and several black hole observatories named in his honor.
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Development Notes
Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Initially published on 24 September 2001.
Initially published on 24 September 2001.
