Red dwarf
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This article is about the type of star. For the television sitcom, see Red Dwarf.
An artist's conception of a red dwarf star. Red dwarfs constitute the majority of all stars
According to the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, a red dwarf star is a
small and relatively cool star, of the main sequence, either late K or M
spectral type. They constitute the vast majority of stars and have a mass
of less than one-half that of the Sun (down to about 0.075 solar masses,
which are brown dwarfs) and a surface temperature of less than 3,500 K.
Contents
[hide]
1 Description and characteristics
2 Planets
3 Habitability
4 See also
5 References
6 External links
[edit] Description and characteristics
An artist's impression of a planet in orbit around a red dwarf
Red dwarfs are very low mass stars with no more than 40% of the mass
of the Sun.[1] Consequently they have relatively low temperatures in their
cores and energy is generated at a slow rate through nuclear fusion of
hydrogen into helium via the proton-proton (PP) chain mechanism. Thus
these stars emit little light, sometimes as little as 1/10,000th that of the
Sun. But even the largest red dwarf has only about 10% of the Sun's
luminosity.[2]
In general red dwarfs transport energy from the core to the surface by
convection. Convection occurs because of opacity of the interior, which
has a relatively high density compared to the temperature. As a result, it
is more difficult for photons to travel toward the surface by radiative
processes. Convection takes over energy transport because it is a more
efficient process.[3]
The predicted main sequence lifetime of a red dwarf star depends upon its mass relative to
the Sun.[4]
As red dwarfs are fully convective, helium does not accumulate at the
core and, compared to larger stars such as the Sun, they can burn a
larger proportion of their hydrogen before leaving the main sequence. As
a result, red dwarfs have estimated lifespans longer than the estimated
age of the universe, and stars with less than 0.8 solar masses have not
had time to leave the main sequence. The lower the mass of a red
dwarf, the longer the lifespan. It is believed that the lifespan of these
stars exceeds the expected 10 billion year lifespan of the sun by the
third or fourth power of the ratio of their masses to the solar mass; thus
a red dwarf with 0.1 solar mass may continue burning for 10 trillion
years.[5][1] As the proportion of hydrogen in a red dwarf is consumed, the
rate of fusion declines and the core starts to contract. The gravitational
energy generated by this size reduction is converted into heat, which is
carried throughout the star by convection.[6]
Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram
Spectral Type
Brown dwarfs
White dwarfs
Red dwarfs
Subdwarfs
"Dwarfs"
Main sequence
Subgiants
Giants
Bright Giants
Supergiants
Hypergiants
absolute
magni-
tude
(MV)
The fact that red dwarfs and other low mass stars remain on the main
sequence while more massive stars have moved off the main sequence
allows the age of star clusters to be estimated by finding the mass at
which the stars turn off the main sequence. This provides a lower,
stellar, age limit to the Universe and also allows formation timescales to
be placed upon the structures within the Milky Way galaxy, namely the
Galactic halo and Galactic disk.
One mystery which has not been solved as of 2007 is the absence of red
dwarf stars with no metals. (In astronomy, a metal is any element
heavier than hydrogen or helium). The Big Bang model predicts the first
generation of stars should have only hydrogen, helium, and trace
amounts of lithium. If such stars included red dwarfs, they should still be
observable today, but none have yet been identified. The preferred
explanation is that without heavy elements only large and not yet
observed population III stars can form, and these rapidly burn out
leaving heavy elements which then allow for the formation of red dwarfs.
Alternative explanations, such as that zero-metal red dwarfs are dim and
could be few in number, are considered much less likely as they seem to
conflict with stellar evolution models.
Red dwarfs are the most common star type in the Galaxy, at least in the
neighborhood of the Sun. Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to the Sun,
is a red dwarf (Type M5, apparent magnitude 11.05), as are twenty of
the next thirty nearest. However, due to their low luminosity, individual
red dwarfs cannot easily be observed over the vast interstellar distances
that luminous stars can; in fact, none are visible to the naked eye. [7]
[edit] Planets
Extrasolar planets were discovered orbiting the red dwarf Gliese 581 in
2005, about the mass of Neptune, or seventeen earth masses. It orbits
just 6 million kilometers (0.04 AU) from its star, and so is estimated to
have a surface temperature of 150 °C, despite the dimness of the star.
In 2006, an even smaller extrasolar planet (only 5.5 times the mass of
Earth) was found orbiting the red dwarf OGLE-2005-BLG-390L; it lies 390
million km (2.6 AU) from the star and its surface temperature is −220 °C
(56 K).
In 2007, a new, potentially habitable extrasolar planet, Gliese 581 c, was
found, orbiting Gliese 581. If the mass estimated by its discoverers (a
team led by Stephane Udry), namely 5.03 times that of the Earth, is
correct, it is the smallest extrasolar planet revolving around a normal
star discovered to date. (There are smaller planets known around a
neutron star, named PSR B1257+12.) The discoverers estimate its radius
to be 1.5 times that of the Earth. This planet is within the habitable zone
of Gliese 581, and is the most likely candidate for habitability of any
extrasolar planet discovered so far.[8]
[edit] Habitability
Main article: Habitability of red dwarf systems
Planetary habitability of red dwarf star systems is subject to some
debate.[citation needed] In spite of their great numbers and long lifespans,
there are several factors which may make life difficult on planets around
a red dwarf star. First, planets in the habitable zone of a red dwarf would
be so close to the parent star that they would likely be tidally locked.
This would mean that one side would be in perpetual daylight and the
other in eternal night. This could create enormous temperature
variations from one side of the planet to the other. Such conditions
would appear to make it difficult for life (as we know it) to evolve. [citation
needed]
On the other hand, recent theories propose that either a thick
atmosphere or planetary ocean could potentially circulate heat around
such a planet.
Another potential problem is that red dwarfs emit most of their radiation
as infrared light, while on Earth plants use energy mostly in the visible
spectrum. But, perhaps the most serious problem may be stellar
variability. Red dwarfs are often covered in starspots, reducing stellar
output by as much as 40% for months at a time. At other times, some
red dwarfs, called flare stars, can emit gigantic flares, doubling their
brightness in minutes. This variability may also make it difficult for life as
we know it to survive near a red dwarf star. Gibor Basri of the University
of California, Berkeley claims a planet orbiting close to a red dwarf star
could keep its atmosphere even if the star flares. [1]
[edit] See also
Look up Red dwarf in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Aurelia and Blue Moon
Brown dwarf
Cataclysmic variable star
Hertzsprung-Russell diagram
Flare star
Nemesis (star)
Red giant
Stellar evolution
White dwarf
Yerkes luminosity classification
[edit] References
1. ^ a b Richmond, Michael (November 10, 2004). "Late stages of evolution for low-mass
stars". Rochester Institute of Technology. Retrieved on 2007-09-19.
2. ^ Chabrier, G.; Baraffe, I.; Plez, B. (1996). "Mass-Luminosity Relationship and Lithium
Depletion for Very Low Mass Stars". Astrophysical Journal Letters 459: L91–L94.
doi:10.1086/309951. Retrieved on 2007-09-19.
3. ^ Padmanabhan, Thanu (2001). Theoretical Astrophysics. Cambridge University Press, pp.
96-99. ISBN 0521562414.
4. ^ Adams, Fred C.; Laughlin, Gregory; Graves, Genevieve J. M.. "Red Dwarfs and the End
of the Main Sequence". Gravitational Collapse: From Massive Stars to Planets: 46–49,
Revista Mexicana de Astronomía y Astrofísica. Retrieved on 2008-06-24.
5. ^ Fred C. Adams and Gregory Laughlin (1996). "A Dying Universe: The Long Term Fate
and Evolution of Astrophysical Objects".
6. ^ Koupelis, Theo (2007). In Quest of the Universe. Jones & Bartlett Publishers. ISBN
0763743879.
7. ^ [Link] "The Brightest Red Dwarf", by Ken
Croswell (Accessed 6/7/08)
8. ^ [Link] - Major Discovery: New Planet Could Harbor Water and Life
A. Burrows, W. B. Hubbard, D. Saumon, J. I. Lunine (1993). "An expanded set of
brown dwarf and very low mass star models". Astrophysical Journal 406 (1): 158–
171. doi:10.1086/172427.
"VLT Interferometer Measures the Size of Proxima Centauri and Other Nearby
Stars", European Southern Observatory (November 19, 2002). Retrieved on 2007-
01-12.
Neptune-Size Planet Orbiting Common Star Hints at Many More
