And in the center is a white dwarf.

中间是一颗矮星。

We now call such stars -- white dwarfs.

我们在称这种恒星为——矮星。

White Dwarf stars sometimes have other stars orbiting nearby.

矮星附近有时候有别的恒星环绕。

Or, it seems, when you're cruising past a white dwarf star.

或者可以说在你缓慢驶过一颗矮星时。

Smaller stars like the sun leave behind what are called white dwarves.

像太阳这样较小的恒星会留下矮星。

It consists of a silicon crystal sprinkled with phosphorus atoms.

这个小矮星由布满磷原子的硅晶体组成。

In a nova, the white dwarf remains active after the event.

在星中，矮星在事件生后仍然活跃。

The hydrogen then flows toward the white dwarf's magnetic poles.

然后氢气流向矮星的磁极。

Essentially they are White Dwarf stars that become nuclear bombs.

其实它们就是变成核弹的矮星。

A white dwarf is the hot and dense center of a burned out star.

矮星是一颗燃烧殆尽的恒星的炽热而密集的中心。

So in essence it's cannibalizing its companion hydrogen-rich star.

从本质上说，矮星在吸食富含氢的恒星同伴。

The star collapses, the outer part expands, and the star becomes something called a White Dwarf.

恒星坍缩，外层膨胀，恒星变成了矮星。

The white dwarf's gravity can pull hydrogen gas from the companion star's surface.

矮星的引力可以将氢气从伴星表面拉出来。

By itself it wouldn't be visible from Earth.

矮星自身的光我们在地球上是看不到的。

And how neutron stars, white dwarfs and black holes are created in the first place.

以及中子星、矮星和黑洞最初是如何形成的。

The white dwarf's gravity is so powerful it can suck hydrogen off of that companion.

“矮星的引力非常强，以致于会吸取同伴的氢元素。

White dwarfs—the ultimate destiny of stars like the sun—maximize the pollution signal.

类似太阳一样终极命运的恒星矮星使得污染的信号最大化。

The object was too massive to be a white dwarf or a neutron star.

这个物体的质量太大，不可能是矮星或中子星。

Now, it might be stable, orbiting in this way, for perhaps one or two hundred years.

这颗矮星可能就这样稳定环绕了一两百年。

Dr Murdin built his own little white dwarf to see if the theory looked good.

穆迪博士建造了他自己的小矮星，想弄明这种理论是否真的正确。