Tiny but mighty: Astronomers find the smallest but most massive white dwarf ever seen

Astronomers have found a tiny but mighty dead(ish)star, a white dwarf that is both the smallest and most massive ever seen. It also spins rapidly, packs a walloping magnetic field, and might eventually collapse into an even smaller and denser neutron star.

Seriously, this weird little thing has it all.

A white dwarf is what's left over after a star like the Sun dies. Right now the Sun is happily fusing hydrogen into helium in its core, providing it with the energy we receive as well as the pre...