composed of a carbon-oxygen mixture that was generated by helium fusion in the progenitor star. This is overlaid by an envelope of lighter elements, with the materials segregated by mass because of the high surface gravity. The outer atmosphere of Sirius B is now almost pure hydrogen--the element with the lowest mass--and no other elements are seen in its spectrum.

Search for planets

Sirius B has been the subject of multiple surveys and searches for exoplanets orbiting it. Detection methods

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