SPACE • STELLAR CHEMISTRY • OCTOBER 22, 2026
A Green Star? WD J1330+6435
Extreme stellar atmospheres expand the palette of the cosmos.
What researchers found
A 2026 study identifies WD J1330+6435 as a white dwarf whose calculated appearance is chartreuse green. This is a colour inferred from spectroscopy and human-vision modelling, rather than a resolved photograph of a green stellar surface. The reader-submitted image is an illustration.
Why green?
Ordinary stars emit a broad mixture of wavelengths, so even a spectrum peaking near green need not look green. Here, an exceptionally dense atmosphere broadens absorption features: sodium removes orange light and calcium removes violet light, changing the balance reaching our eyes.
How certain is the shade?
The authors note noise in this object's spectrum, so its exact colour remains uncertain. Alternative modelling also yields a greenish hue, and the study identifies other, paler green white dwarfs.
Why it belongs on MKP
This connects astronomy, chemistry and perception—and offers a useful lesson in distinguishing measured spectra, calculated appearances and artistic illustrations.
Discuss
What evidence would you want before calling an unfamiliar astronomical image “true colour”?
Original research
Mark A. Hollands, Boris T. Gänsicke, Pier-Emmanuel Tremblay and Detlev Koester, Any colour you like: the diverse chromaticities of white dwarfs, RAS Techniques and Instruments (2026). Open preprint. See section 3.4 for WD J1330+6435.
Original MKP synthesis; research credit belongs to the cited authors.