Astrophysicists observe long-theorized quantum phenomena

At the heart of every white dwarf star--the dense stellar object that remains after a star has burned away its fuel reserve of gases as it nears the end of its life cycle--lies a quantum conundrum: as white dwarfs add mass, they shrink in size, until they become so small and tightly compacted that they cannot sustain themselves, collapsing into a neutron star.