White dwarf
<p>Jul 07, 2013 04:10 PM
 
degenerate dwarf;
 
mass is comparable to the sun, in a volume comparable to the Earth.
 
faint luminosity is only from stored thermal energy.
 
nearest is Sirius B at 8.6 LY  (the smaller compoenent of Sirius B binary star).
 
there are 8 white dwarfs among the 100 star systems closest to the Sun.</p>