Current models of white dwarf evolution suggest that the most massive examples are the consequence of a previous stellar merger.

White dwarfs (WDs) represent the final evolutionary stage of low- and medium-mass stars, the inert remnants of red giant cores.

Type Ia supernovae are a crucial class of astronomical events in the study of cosmology, due to their use as standard candles.

Transients are a broad class of events, referring to observations where some measurable change occurs, typically in brightness, over relatively short timescales.

Once a star has exhausted the nuclear fuel available in its core, it can no longer exert the necessary outward pressure to counteract the gravitational pressure from its own mass.

Brown dwarfs are substellar objects that occupy the gap between the largest planets and the smallest stars.

Following the formation of baryonic matter just after the Big Bang, the universe entered a period known as the dark ages, where this matter drifted aimlessly through an otherwise empty cosmos.

There are three primary techniques for studying binary star systems. The first technique, direct imaging, allows astronomers to visually resolve both stars in the binary system when they are sufficiently separated.

Neutron stars are the most extreme non-black hole environments in the universe, formed from stars over 8 M☉, through a Type II supernova.

At its most basic the Sun, and other stars, act as large dipoles.

Magnetars are a special class of neutron stars, which are characterised by their extraordinarily potent magnetic fields, some of the strongest known in the universe.

Pulsars are a class of celestial bodies, typically associated with Neutron stars. These are characterised by the so-called lighthouse effect.