 The carbon detonation/deflagration process leads to a supernova by a different route than the better known Type II (core-collapse) supernova (the type II is caused by the cataclysmic explosion of the outer layers of a massive star as its core implodes).A white dwarf is the remnant of a small to medium size star (our sun is an example of these).At the end of its life, the star has burned its hydrogen and helium fuel, and thermonuclear fusion processes cease.