the upper limit to the mass of a white dwarf, equal to 1.44 solar masses. A star having a mass above this limit will continue to collapse to form a neutron star
Word origin
C20: named after S. Chandrasekhar, who calculated it
Chandrasekhar limit in American English
(ˌʃɑːndrə ˈseikɑːr)
noun
Astronomy
the mass limit above which a star has too much mass to become a white dwarf after gravitational collapse, approximately 1.44 solar masses
Word origin
[1975–80; after U.S. astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1910–95), who formulated it]This word is first recorded in the period 1975–80. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: family therapy, gravitational lens, gridlock, methanogen, retrovirus