 The mass of an isolated, nonrotating white dwarf cannot exceed the Chandrasekhar limit of ~ 1.4 M ☉. (This limit may increase if the white dwarf is rotating rapidly and nonuniformly.) White dwarfs in binary systems can accrete material from a companion star, increasing both their mass and their density. As their mass approaches the Chandrasekhar limit, this could theoretically lead to either the explosive ignition of fusion in the white dwarf or its collapse into a neutron star.
