Overview: Our basic research goal is to observe and study the internal structure and composition of white dwarf stars, the remnants of a nuclear fusion furnace that once turned hydrogen into helium and energy, a process which still powers stars like the Sun. An unexpected circumstance allows us to probe their structure: some of these stars vibrate in a periodic manner that sends seismic waves deep through their interior and brings information to the surface. We see this manifested as complex periodic variations in their brightness, which we can study and analyze, much as seismologists study the inner structure of the earth using earthquakes. White dwarfs once supported steady nuclear fusion, and would again if hydrogen were injected into them. We essentially have a working fusion laboratory to study, one that we must understand in detail if we are ever to master this clean sustainable energy source and duplicate the process on this planet.
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