Do black dwarf stars become planets eventually?

These ancient white dwarfs are 12 to 13 billion years old, only slightly younger than the universe itself. In theory, white dwarfs will eventually stop emitting light and heat and become black dwarfs. Credit: NASA and H. Richer (University of British Columbia). The last stage of stellar evolution is a black dwarf. read more

No longer emitting heat or light, the white dwarf will become a black dwarf, its loss making it difficult to find. However, the black dwarf would still retain its mass, allowing scientists to detect the effects produced by its gravitational field. But there's no need to start searching for the elusive black dwarfs yet. read more

Only in the way planets are currently being formed: through clouds of gas and dust left over from other stars and planets. Although in 2011, researchers found a planet composed entirely of "diamonds". read more

Because the time required for a white dwarf to reach this state is calculated to be longer than the current age of the universe (13.8 billion years), no black dwarfs are expected to exist in the universe now, and the temperature of the coolest white dwarfs is one observational limit on the age of the universe. read more