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White dwarf

LAWD 37

Also GJ 440 · LP 145-141

Open in Ouranos

A nearby white dwarf whose mass was measured by watching it bend the light of a background star.

Measured

Distance
15 light-years
Constellation
Musca
Position (J2000)
RA 11h 45m 43s, Dec −64.84°

How far, from the Sun

15.1 light-years. To cross it:

  • Light15.1 years
  • Voyager 1's speed269,000 years
  • Driving at 100 km/h163 million years

Voyager 1 at the speed it moved outward over the year to 2026-10-25 (JPL Horizons). Driving: nonstop, never refuelling.

Facts

  • It is one of the nearest white dwarfs to the Sun.
  • Its distance comes from a Gaia parallax: the tiny yearly shift in its position as the Earth circles the Sun.

Where this comes from

  • Gaia DR3 parallax 215.6753 ± 0.0181 mas, Gaia DR3 5332606522595645952 (Gaia Collaboration 2023, A&A 674, A1)
  • This research has made use of the SIMBAD database, CDS, Strasbourg, France (Wenger et al. 2000, A&AS 143, 9).
  • This research has made use of the VizieR catalogue access tool, CDS, Strasbourg, France (DOI: 10.26093/cds/vizier).

Every catalogue Ouranos draws is credited on the credits page.