Paradoxically, white dwarf stars shrink as they gain mass
Telescope observations of thousands of these stripped-down stars confirm the trend
![planetary nebula NGC 2440](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/080520_mt_white-dwarf_feat.jpg?fit=1028%2C579&ssl=1)
White dwarf stars, like the one inside the planetary nebula NGC 2440 (pictured), have a strange property — the more mass they gain, the smaller the stars get.
K. Noll/STScI, ESA, NASA