'Zombie' stars return from the dead

Black holes are among the most elusive objects in the universe, but research out of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) suggests the remnant cores of burned-out stars could be the key to making the first observation of the most elusive class of black holes.

The research explored whether a dormant white dwarf star—sometimes referred to as a "zombie" star—could reignite if it had a close encounter with an intermediate-mass black hole. While data exists to corroborate the existence of supermassive black holes, there have been no confirmed observations of black holes in the intermediate class, which range in size from 100 to 100,000 solar masses. This intermediate class, the research team posited, might offer just the right amount of gravitational force to reignite a white dwarf before it's torn apart.

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Credit: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Supercomputer simulations show the evolution of a dormant white dwarf star reigniting as it whizzes around an intermediate-mass black hole. The top series of images show density, the bottom show temperature.

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According to NASA, a white dwarf is what stars like the Sun become after they have exhausted their nuclear fuel.

Scientists have possibly found evidence of the dimmest and coldest white dwarf star ever detected.

When stars die, they collapse and as time goes on continue to cool and fade.

This one, being an estimated 11 billion years old, is below the visibility range of even the best optics.

NASA Spots "Zombie Star" Lurking in Deep Space

More than 110 million light-years away from Earth, a star lives on after its death.