If the Surface Temperatures of White Dwarf Stars Are 4

question 37

Multiple Choice

If the surface temperatures of white dwarf stars are 4 times that of the Sun, and energy output per unit area of a star depends on the fourth power of the temperature by the Stefan-Boltzmann relation, why are white dwarfs intrinsically so faint?

• A) White dwarfs are very small.
• B) White dwarfs have very thin atmospheres that do not emit continuum radiation but only line emissions, like a low-density gas.
• C) White dwarfs are shrouded in very thick atmospheres.
• D) White dwarfs are moving rapidly away from the Sun and their spectra are extremely redshifted, hence they appear faint at visible wavelengths.

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