Chandrasekhar limit

American  

[shahn-druh-sey-kahr] / ˌʃɑn drəˈseɪ kɑr /

noun

Astronomy.

1. the mass limit above which a star has too much mass to become a white dwarf after gravitational collapse, approximately 1.44 solar masses.

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Chandrasekhar limit British  

noun

1. astronomy the upper limit to the mass of a white dwarf, equal to 1.44 solar masses. A star having a mass above this limit will continue to collapse to form a neutron star

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Chandrasekhar limit Scientific  

1. The maximum size of a stable white dwarf, approximately 3 × 10 ³⁰ kg (about 1.4 times the mass of the Sun). Stars with mass higher than the Chandrasekhar limit ultimately collapse under their own weight and become neutron stars or black holes. Stars with a mass below this limit are prevented from collapsing by the degeneracy pressure of their electrons.

2. See more at degeneracy pressure

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Etymology

Origin of Chandrasekhar limit

First recorded in 1975–80; named after U.S. astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar ( def. ), who formulated it

Example Sentences

At that threshold, known as the Chandrasekhar limit, theorists predict the pressure inside will cause electrons and protons to fuse into neutrons, and the white dwarf will quietly collapse into a neutron star.

From Science Magazine • Jun. 4, 2020

Just short of the Chandrasekhar limit, at about 1.4 solar masses, the density and temperature of the core shoot up.

From Science Magazine • Jun. 4, 2020

All stars that have masses below the Chandrasekhar limit when they run out of fuel will become white dwarfs, no matter what mass they were born with.

From Textbooks • Oct. 13, 2016

Eventually, the white dwarf acquires so much mass that it is pushed over the Chandrasekhar limit and becomes a type Ia supernova.

From Textbooks • Oct. 13, 2016

Above this Chandrasekhar limit a star’s gravity will pull on itself so strongly that electrons can’t stop its collapse.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife