Ep. 155: Dwarf Stars

Stars | 3 comments

Artist illustration of a red dwarf star.

Artist illustration of a red dwarf star.

We think we live near an average star, but that’s not the case at all. Compared to most stars in the Universe, the Sun is a giant! Let’s look at the small end of the stellar spectrum, to stars with a fraction of the size and mass of our own Sun. There are many ways that a star can get small, and they lead dramatically different lives and deaths.

  • Ep. 155: Dwarf Stars
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    3 Comments

    1. Julian

      Sun is actually 10^30 kg not 10^33 kg! You’ve just fried us all!

      Reply
    2. David Madison

      The numbers tossed around are astronomical. Putting in perspective the smallest red dwarf fusing hydrogen for twelve trillion years, that is a thousand times as long as the universe has existed. When you say it will take a quadrillion years for it to cool off to just about absolute zero, that is eighty thousand times the current age of the universe.

      Reply
    3. Jesse Cohen

      Congrats Dr. Pamela Gay on your appearance on History Channel’s ‘The Universe’! You were awesome!

      Reply

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