Overview
- A peer‑reviewed study published in mid‑October 2026 converted spectra of about 151 white dwarfs within roughly 20 parsecs into the colors a human eye would see and found five with unusual hues.
- The standout object, WD J1330+6435, would appear chartreuse green in human vision because sodium, calcium and lithium delivered by planetary debris absorb broad bands of yellow, orange and red light in the white dwarf’s dense helium atmosphere.
- On the red end, WD J1011+2845—about 48 light‑years away—models as an extreme salmon‑pink because carbon dredged from the star’s interior forms molecules that strip shorter wavelengths.
- The team stresses these colors are computed from spectral data through human‑vision models rather than direct imaging, and that about 3 percent of the local sample show such strong color shifts while the median nearby white dwarf still appears white.
- Beyond the spectacle, the results provide a new diagnostic: accreted planetary material alters white dwarf spectra and color, and upcoming large spectroscopic surveys should find many more unusual examples to map how often planetary debris reshapes stellar atmospheres.