University of Warwick astronomers discover the first green star ever recorded, just in time for Halloween
Dr Mark Hollands and his team at the University of Warwick have identified white dwarf WD J1330+6435, some 326 light-years from Earth, as the first star ever credibly confirmed to appear green to the human eye. The star glows green because it has been consuming rocky material from a planetary companion, loading its atmosphere with sodium, which absorbs the orange part of the light spectrum and leaves behind what Hollands calls a 'ghostly green glow'. The findings, published in the journal RAS Techniques and Instruments, overturn the assumption that a white dwarf's colour is dictated purely by temperature.
'Imagine standing on a planet and looking up at a green star — it feels like science fiction,' said Dr Hollands.
White dwarfs are millions of times denser than the Sun's outer shell, meaning trace elements warp their colour away from the expected orange-white-blue range.
The team also identified what may be the reddest star ever recorded: WD J1011+2845, just 48 light-years away, glowing salmon-pink from carbon rising to its surface.