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NASA Features Illustration of White Dwarf Star WD J1330+6435

NASA News Releases presented an illustration of the white dwarf star WD J1330+6435, noting that while most stars appear white, some white dwarfs can exhibit colors like green due to accreted trace elements.

AI illustration based on reference photographs; not an event photograph. Illustration of the white dwarf star WD J1330+6435, a greenish-white sphere, surrounded by a diffuse green accretion disk containing dark, irregularly shaped orbiting rocks against a dark starry background.
AI-generated illustration

According to NASA News Releases, the Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) for October 22, 2026, featured an illustration depicting WD J1330+6435, a white dwarf star, encircled by an accretion disk containing gas and rocks orbiting the star. White dwarfs are described as small, faint stars that remain after a star similar to the Sun has used up its nuclear fuel.

Astronomers have recently discovered that certain white dwarf stars, notwithstanding their designation, can present as yellow, green, cyan, pink, or purple. This coloration occurs when trace elements that have been accreted onto these stars interact with the stellar atmosphere, causing a shift from their typical white appearance.

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