The 15 brightest white dwarfs, nearest first
The table sorts by any column. Spectral types beginning DA have hydrogen atmospheres, DB helium, DZ metals and DQ carbon; the number rises as the star cools.
| Star | Also | Spectral type | Constellation | Mag | Distance ly | Best | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sirius B | Alpha Canis Majoris B, WD 0642-166 | DA2 | Canis Major | 8.44 | 8.6 | Feb | About 11 arcsec from Sirius A (V -1.46) in the late 2020s; needs steady seeing |
| Procyon B | Alpha Canis Minoris B, WD 0736+053 | DQZ | Canis Minor | 10.70 | 11.5 | Mar | About 4 arcsec from Procyon A (V 0.37); very difficult |
| Van Maanen 2 | van Maanen 2, van Maanen's Star | DZ7 | Pisces | 12.37 | 14.1 | Nov | The nearest solitary white dwarf |
| LP 145-141 | WD 1142-645 | DQ6 | Musca | 11.50 | 15.1 | May | |
| 40 Eridani B | Omicron2 Eridani B, WD 0413-077 | DA4 | Eridanus | 9.52 | 16.3 | Jan | The easiest white dwarf for small telescopes, 83 arcsec from 40 Eri A |
| L 532-81 | WD 0839-327 | DA6 | Pyxis | 11.88 | 27.8 | Mar | |
| WD 0310-688 | LB 3303, EG 21 | DA3 | Hydrus | 11.39 | 33.9 | Dec | |
| LDS 678A | WD 1917-077 | DQ5 | Aquila | 12.28 | 34.3 | Aug | |
| G 226-29 | DN Draconis, WD 1647+591 | DAV4 | Draco | 12.24 | 35.7 | Jul | Pulsating ZZ Ceti white dwarf |
| CD-38 10980 | WD 1620-391 | DA2 | Scorpius | 11.01 | 42.1 | Jul | Fourth-brightest white dwarf; companion of HD 147513 |
| Wolf 1346 | WD 2032+248 | DA3 | Vulpecula | 11.52 | 47.0 | Sep | |
| WD 1327-083 | Wolf 485 A | DA5 | Virgo | 12.31 | 52.5 | May | |
| WD 2007-303 | DA4 | Sagittarius | 12.18 | 52.9 | Sep | ||
| WD 0644+375 | DA2 | Auriga | 12.06 | 55.7 | Feb | ||
| G 191-B2B | WD 0501+527 | DA1 | Camelopardalis | 11.78 | 171.0 | Jan | Hot white dwarf used as a spectrophotometric standard |
A white dwarf is the bare core of a dead Sun-like star, about the size of Earth
When a star of up to about 8 solar masses runs out of fuel, it puffs off its outer layers as a planetary nebula and leaves its core behind: carbon and oxygen packed so tight that a teaspoon would weigh several tonnes. It makes no new energy and slowly cools over billions of years. The Sun will end this way. No white dwarf can be heavier than about 1.4 solar masses, the limit Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar worked out in 1930; a white dwarf pushed past it by a companion explodes as a Type Ia supernova.
The first white dwarfs found were companions of bright stars. Friedrich Bessel saw Sirius wobble in 1844 and predicted an unseen partner; Alvan Graham Clark saw Sirius B through a new 18.5-inch lens in 1862. Sirius B is also the nearest white dwarf, 8.6 light-years away.
2 white dwarfs are brighter than magnitude 10; 40 Eridani B is the easiest to see
The brightest, Sirius B at magnitude 8.44, is drowned in the glare of Sirius, 10 magnitudes brighter and about 11″ away; it takes steady air and an 8-inch or larger telescope. 40 Eridani B, magnitude 9.5, sits 83″ from its bright primary and shows in a 3-inch telescope: a white speck beside an orange star, with a red dwarf, 40 Eridani C, close by. Van Maanen 2, magnitude 12.4, is the nearest single white dwarf, found by Adriaan van Maanen in 1917 from its fast motion across the sky.
All 15 lie within 175 light-years of the Sun
Each dot is one white dwarf, on a straight scale from the Sun.