Final answer:
White dwarfs from stars with different initial masses show these differences due to mass loss during the stars' lifetimes. A white dwarf from a 1 MSN star would have had a simpler life compared to one from a 9 MSN star, which would have been more luminous, gone through more significant mass changes, and possibly more violent events.
Step-by-step explanation:
Comparison of White Dwarfs from Stars with Different Initial Mass
When comparing white dwarfs formed from stars with different initial masses, we must consider that stars can significantly lose mass over their lifetime. A star with an initial mass much greater than about 1.4 times the mass of the Sun (MSN) will often end its life with a mass that is reduced to fit within the white dwarf category (<1.4 MSN). Specifically, stars with initial masses of at least 8.0 MSN, and up to 150 MSN or more may lose enough mass during their lifespan to die as white dwarfs rather than more massive supernovae.
In the example given, a white dwarf originating from a star with an initial mass of 1 MSN would differ from one that began with an initial mass of 9 MSN mainly due to the processes the stars undergo during their lifetimes. The higher-mass star is likely to have been hotter, more luminous, and would have gone through a more tumultuous evolution involving significant mass loss to arrive at the white dwarf stage. This mass loss is crucial as most massive stars end their lives with masses below the Chandrasekhar limit of 1.4 MSN.
Therefore, the initial mass of a star has broad implications for its entire lifecycle, including the characteristics of its remnants like white dwarfs. Stars with original masses around 1 MSN evolve in a fairly uniform manner, while those with much larger initial masses have more complex evolutions and are less common.