What is the critical mass known as the Chandrasekhar Limit for a stable white dwarf?
Answer
About 1.4 times the mass of the Sun ($1.4 M extregistered extsuperscript{ extcircled}O$).
The Chandrasekhar Limit defines the maximum stable mass a white dwarf can possess, supported only by electron degeneracy pressure against gravitational collapse. This limit is precisely quantified at approximately $1.4$ times the mass of the Sun ($1.4 M_{ extregistered extsuperscript{ extcircled}O}$). When a white dwarf in a binary system accretes enough mass from its companion star to surpass this threshold, the degeneracy pressure is overwhelmed by gravity. The resulting imbalance leads to the ignition of runaway thermonuclear reactions within the white dwarf's carbon and oxygen core, causing it to detonate completely in a Type Ia supernova.
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