Hydrogen-deficient star the outer layer of the star. The double degenerate scenario is a binary-star approach in which a smaller degenerate helium white dwarf and a larger carbon-oxygen white dwarf orbit each other so closely that they eventually inspiral due to gravitational wave losses. At the Roche limit, mass transfer takes place from the helium to the carbon-oxygen star. The latter undergoes helium shell burning to form a supergiant and evolve to a hydrogen-deficient star. The double degenerate scenario provides a better fit to the observational data. Hydrogen-deficient star A hydrogen-deficient star is a type of star that has little or no
Pre-main-sequence star Pre-main-sequence star A pre-main-sequence star (also known as a PMS star and PMS object) is a star in the stage when it has not yet reached the main sequence. Earlier in its life, the object is a protostar that grows by acquiring mass from its surrounding envelope of interstellar dust and gas. After the protostar blows away this envelope, it is optically visible, and appears on the stellar birthline in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. At this point, the star has acquired nearly all of its mass but has not yet started hydrogen burning (i.e. nuclear fusion of hydrogen). The star then