Astronomers made new discoveries that defy old ideas on white dwarfs. Astronomers used new data collected by the Hubble spatial telescope to determine that white dwarfs can continue to burn hydrogen in the last stages of their lives. By burning hydrogen in these last stages of their lives, white dwarves may seem younger when they are considered they are.

Astronomers say that this discovery could have consequences for the measure of the age of star clusters. The team believes that white dwarves can slow down their aging rate by burning hydrogen on the surface. The proof is the first discovery indicating that white dwarfs can still undergo stable thermonuclear activity, which is directly pending with previously detained beliefs.

A white dwarf is a star that slowly cools that launched its exterior layers in space during the last stages of its life. About 98% of the universe stars finally put their lives like white dwarfs, making it the most common objects. The researchers believe that by studying and learning more about objects, they can learn more about the earlier stages of a star’s life.

For the survey, astronomers compared white dwarves residing within two globular clusters called M3 and M13. Physically, two-star groups are extremely similar to age and similar metal. However, their Star populations, which will eventually end up white dwarves, are considerably different. A major difference is the color of the stars in the clusters at a step of the evolution called the horizontal branch are Blunts in the cluster M13, which means hottest stars.

Since the globular clusters are so similar but have stars of different temperatures, they are ideal for testing the way different white dwarf populations cool. Hubble was used to observe the two clusters of quasi-ultraviolet wavelengths allowing the comparison of more than 700 white dwarfs between the two clusters. M3 has been found that it contains standard white dwarfs that cool stellar hearts.

M13 contains two populations of white dwarves comprising the standard and another type that always has an external hydrogen envelope, which allows it to continue burning and cooling more slowly. About 70% of M13 white dwarves burn hydrogen on their surfaces. The discovery could change the way astronomers measure the age of the stars of the Milky Way.