Van Maanen 2

Common card · No. 383451

Van Maanen 2, or van Maanen's Star, is the closest-known solitary white dwarf to the Solar System. It is a dense, compact stellar remnant no longer generating energy through fusion and has equivalent to about 68% of the Sun's mass but only 1% of its radius. At a distance of 14.1 light-years it is the third closest of its type of star after Sirius B and Procyon B, in that order. Discovered in 1917 by Dutch-American astronomer Adriaan van Maanen, Van Maanen 2 was the third white dwarf identified, after 40 Eridani B and Sirius B, and the first solitary example.

Read on Wikipedia · Image SDSS & Melina Thévenot, CC BY-SA 4.0