Gravity Powered Stars

Nuclear fusion doesn't power all the stars.When matter falls onto a compact star such as a white dwarf, a great deal of energy is released, and all sorts of interesting things happen. In this talk I'll explore gravity-powered stars through the lens of my own research on so-called cataclysmic variable stars. Along the way I'll touch on the many interesting bits of physics that drive these stars, as well as the techniques by which astronomers have inferred so much about objects that appear as unresolved dots even in the largest telescopes.