{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.white-dwarf","code":"thing-q5871","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/q5871/","name":"white dwarf","alternateNames":["black dwarf","pulsating white dwarf","quark star","ZZ Ceti variable","strange star"],"kind":"thing","status":"published","version":"0.2.0-wave.1","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Physical world and living systems","entryKind":"thing","plane":"PHY","domain":["PHY.SPC"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":[],"facets":{}},"whatItIs":"A compact stellar remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter, left after a low- or medium-mass star sheds its outer layers, about Earth-sized with a mass up to about 1.4 solar masses.","purpose":"Let an agent describe white dwarfs by type, mass, temperature and evolution, separating established facts from hypothetical objects.","scope":{"in":[],"out":[],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["Electron-degenerate remnant","Earth-sized but star-massed","Cools slowly over billions of years","Black dwarfs are hypothetical, as the universe is too young"],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"identity","name":"Identity","description":"Which white dwarf.","layers":[{"id":"designation","name":"Designation","description":"Catalogue.","findings":[{"id":"designation-finding","name":"Designation","description":"Designation.","questions":[{"text":"Which designation identifies it?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which spectral type?","kind":"definition"}]}]},{"id":"system","name":"System","description":"Single or binary.","findings":[{"id":"system-finding","name":"System","description":"System context.","questions":[{"text":"Is it single or in a binary?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Does it accrete from a companion?","kind":"definition"}]}]}]},{"id":"properties","name":"Properties","description":"Mass and temperature.","layers":[{"id":"mass","name":"Mass","description":"Measurement.","findings":[{"id":"mass-finding","name":"Mass","description":"Mass.","questions":[{"text":"What is its mass?","kind":"measurement"},{"text":"How was it measured?","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"temperature","name":"Temperature and age","description":"Cooling.","findings":[{"id":"temperature-finding","name":"Cooling","description":"Temperature and cooling age.","questions":[{"text":"What is its temperature and cooling age?","kind":"measurement"},{"text":"How uncertain?","kind":"measurement"}]}]}]},{"id":"evolution","name":"Evolution","description":"Past and future.","layers":[{"id":"origin","name":"Origin","description":"Progenitor.","findings":[{"id":"origin-finding","name":"Origin","description":"Progenitor.","questions":[{"text":"What kind of star did it come from?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"How is that inferred?","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"future","name":"Future","description":"Cooling or explosion.","findings":[{"id":"future-finding","name":"Future","description":"Future evolution.","questions":[{"text":"Could it become a type Ia supernova?","kind":"boundary"},{"text":"What does theory predict?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]},{"id":"communication","name":"Communication","description":"Accurate claims.","layers":[{"id":"hypothetical","name":"Hypothetical objects","description":"Black and quark stars.","findings":[{"id":"hypothetical-finding","name":"Hypothetical","description":"Hypothetical objects.","questions":[{"text":"Is a hypothetical object being presented as real?","kind":"boundary"},{"text":"How should that be corrected?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"sun","name":"The Sun","description":"Our future.","findings":[{"id":"sun-finding","name":"Sun","description":"The Sun fate.","questions":[{"text":"Will the Sun become a white dwarf, and when?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"How certain is that?","kind":"measurement"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Describe white dwarfs and report observations from astronomical catalogues.","Explain stellar evolution leading to white dwarfs from established sources."],"mustNot":["Present estimated masses, ages or distances as exact.","Attribute a discovery to a researcher without a source.","Present speculative models as settled fact."],"requiresHuman":["Announcing a new discovery on behalf of a research team."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["Scientific claims should be accurate and credited to those who made them.","Public trust in astronomy depends on honest statements of uncertainty."],"affectedParties":["Researchers","The public who rely on science reporting"]},"owners":{"steward":"Nobody: a natural object; astronomical catalogues keep the authoritative records.","roles":[],"masterSystems":["Astronomical object catalogues and databases"]},"relations":[{"target":"Q244393","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"Q368442","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"compact object","type":"related","note":"remnant"},{"target":"star","type":"related","note":"low-mass star"},{"target":"supernova","type":"related","note":"type Ia"},{"target":"neutron star","type":"related","note":"denser remnant"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.white-dwarf","Wikidata: Q5871 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5871)","WD designation: WD plus coordinates catalogues","Gaia source id: numeric Gaia white dwarf catalogue"]},"properties":{"applicability":"required","items":["mass: about 0.5-1.4 solar masses - Chandrasekhar limit near 1.4","radius: about Earth size km - roughly 6000-10000 km"]},"recognition":{"applicability":"required","items":["Low luminosity with high temperature","Spectral types DA, DB and others","ZZ Ceti variables pulsate","Faint, hot, small stars; many are white or blue-white."]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["observe and classify it","measure mass and temperature","use cooling ages","study pulsating white dwarfs"]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Presenting hypothetical objects such as quark stars as observed","Confusing remnant types"]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["IAU nomenclature"]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["White dwarfs are the fate of most stars, including the Sun, and help date stellar populations.","DA and DB white dwarfs","pulsating white dwarfs (ZZ Ceti)","white dwarfs in binaries","hypothetical black dwarfs"]}},"sources":[{"title":"Wikidata item Q5871: white dwarf","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5871","note":"identity and sense of the item"},{"title":"Wikipedia: White dwarf","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_dwarf","note":"general description of the item"}],"openQuestions":["Should spectral types be separate entries?","How should hypothetical objects be marked?","How should Gaia catalogue entries be linked?"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-q5871/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-q5871/spec.json"],"providers":["Claude"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-11T06:25:11Z","builder":"tools/build_cards.py@1.0.0"},"completeness":{"sections":{"classifiers":"filled","whatItIs":"filled","purpose":"filled","distinguishingFeatures":"filled","structure":"filled","agentConduct":"filled","ethics":"filled","owners":"filled","relations":"filled","interaction.identity":"filled","interaction.properties":"filled","interaction.recognition":"filled","interaction.capabilities":"filled","interaction.hazards":"filled","interaction.interfaces":"filled","interaction.context":"filled","sources":"filled"},"notes":{"_gate":"Published through the thing publication gate 1.0 on 2026-10-06T19:52:01+00:00: completeness 1.00; sense: Wikidata description; 2 live sources; review by codex: pass"},"score":1.0}}