The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 4 letter word STAR GAZE
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
S
T
A
R
G
A
Z
E
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Perhaps look at white dwarf" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case perhaps look at white dwarf = star gaze.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.