Before diving into the archive, let's briefly discuss what white dwarf stars are. A white dwarf is a small, hot, and extremely dense star that is formed when a low-mass star like our Sun exhausts its fuel and dies. During the final stages of a star's life, it undergoes a series of nuclear reactions that cause it to shed its outer layers, leaving behind a hot core that slowly cools over time. White dwarfs are made up of degenerate matter, meaning that the electrons are so tightly packed that they can't move freely, making them incredibly dense.