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Cheman
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What happens to stars smaller than ours? (eg - red dwarfs) Do they swell to red giants and lose their outer layers or do they simply shrink, getting hotter as they do so to form white dwarfs?
Thanks.
Thanks.
I checked with my textbook (Kartunen et al.,Fundamental Astronomy,Springer (1987). It's not so current, but things probably haven't changed that much concerning low mass stars.what does happen to a red dwarf?
I must alter that answer a bit. There is a threshold of opacity about 26% of a solar mass.red dwarfs tend to stay on the main sequence (uniform hydrogen->helium production at the stellar core) until they run out of hydrogen fuel
However, at about 150% of a solar mass, another threshold is crossed. Things get much more complicated, with hotter interior temperatures, more elaborate phases of nuclear conversion and much faster evolution. And the Chandrasekhar limit has been crossed: the star must ultimately blow up.
Smaller stars, also known as red dwarfs, will eventually run out of hydrogen fuel and begin to shrink and cool, becoming white dwarfs.
No, smaller stars do not have enough mass to initiate a supernova explosion. However, they can experience a smaller type of explosion called a nova, which occurs when material from a companion star is pulled onto the white dwarf, causing a sudden increase in brightness.
Yes, smaller stars are actually the most common type of star in the universe and many of them have been found to have planets in orbit around them. These planets may be able to support life, but they may also experience harsh conditions due to the smaller star's lower energy output.
Smaller stars have much longer lifespans compared to larger stars. While our Sun is expected to live for about 10 billion years, red dwarfs can live for trillions of years, making them some of the oldest objects in the universe.
Yes, smaller stars can merge with other stars to form larger, more massive stars. This can occur when two stars are in a close orbit and their gravitational forces cause them to merge together. However, this is a rare occurrence and typically only happens in dense stellar environments.