On Sep 6, 9:52*pm, Sam Wormley wrote:
Our Galaxy Might Hold Thousands of Ticking
* *http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/news/2011/pr201123.html

"A white dwarf is a stellar remnant that has ceased nuclear fusion. It
typically can weigh up to 1.4 times as much as our Sun - a figure called
the Chandrasekhar mass after the astronomer who first calculated it. Any
heavier, and gravity overwhelms the forces supporting the white dwarf,
compacting it and igniting runaway nuclear fusion that blows the star apart.