On April 13th Dr Farihi presented his results at the RAS National Astronomy Meeting (NAM 2010) in Glasgow.
White dwarf stars are the endpoint of stellar evolution for the vast majority (>90%) of all stars in the Milky Way, including our Sun. Because they should have essentially pure hydrogen or pure helium atmospheres, if heavier elements (in astronomy described as 'metals', examples including calcium, magnesium and iron) are found then these must be external pollutants. For decades, it was believed that the interstellar medium, the tenuous gas between the stars, was the source of metals in these polluted white dwarfs.
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