The maximum mass (approximately 1.4 solar masses) that a white dwarf star can have before it collapses under its own gravity. Beyond this limit, electron degeneracy pressure cannot support the star against gravitational collapse.
Named after Indian-American astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, who calculated this limit in 1930. His work initially faced resistance but later earned him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1983.
This limit determines the ultimate fate of stars - those below it become white dwarfs and slowly cool over trillions of years, while those above face catastrophic collapse into neutron stars or black holes! Chandrasekhar discovered this at age 19 during a ship voyage to England.
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