The Smallest Stars in the Universe - Red Dwarfs

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

More about how stars work: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qYLIoKOafsuDg7M

[@neilrusling3438]

So why is our sun not convective like red dwarfs, you would think that gas heated in the core would rise and be replaced by cooler gas. I cant think of any fluid that doesnt convect heat, even really thick unfluids convect just very slowly. I cant think of the word for unfluidy treacle like stuff, there must be one?

[@Daniel_Batal]

I have been accused of being the dimmest star in my own Universe.

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

But you're the brightest star in mine. Ok, maybe not but I'm throwing you a bone.

[@baneblackguard584]

there can be no communication between universes, if there was then they aren't separate universes they are part of one universe. so if someone accused you of anything they are defining themselves as being part of your own universe. Ask them how they came to the conclusion that it was your own universe, as they just proved they are part of the same universe... when they give you a blank stare, just shrug and say "guess I'm NOT the dimmest" and smile as you walk away.

[@HorizonPaintingHawaiiLLC]

At least your not a potato

[@gputsche]

Well done! I didn't know exactly why red dwarfs burned so long.. Now I know enough to start an argument in a bar... someday...

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

lol, and they said studying astronomy had no practical benefit :)

[@joedasilva134]

I had no idea red dwarfs were so plentiful n lasted so long . Thanks for another lovely video.

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

My pleasure, thanks for watching!

[@richardwilloughby1325]

So, if the red dwarves are so dim and have such long wavelength light emission, could they be more plentiful than we believe and account for more of the “missing mass” needed to make the Big Bang theory work? If red shift is taken into account, could they be there, but just not be detectable?

[@whatelseison8970]

One thing I discovered about red dwarfs that I thought was interesting is how insanely strong their surface gravity is. You'd think more massive stars would have stronger surface gravity but it's actually the opposite. For comparison, our sun's surface gravity is 28g while on Proxima it's 81g. It makes sense when you consider they're not much bigger than Jupiter but are ~100x as massive.

[@Taricus]

Are you saying g as in g_earth? g changes depending on what body you are talking about.

[@SuperManning11]

Your videos are amazing! You are a great teacher and I believe you are destined for a huge following once people start watching. Kudos!

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Thank you so much for the kind words!

[@TheWrightsWay]

Very interesting...I love to having the conversation about the universe and what we know or what we think we know without actually seeing

[@SergeiKotikov]

Ah, I wonder if astronomers have this drinking game at parties where you take a shot every time someone says that a star 'burns' hydrogen in its core :D

[@MadScienceWorkshoppe]

Others have brushed on some of the aspects touched on here, but this is definitely the most comprehensive I've seen. I didn't expect to learn much, but I learned a lot! You really managed to hit a good balance here. Keep up the great work!

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Thank you very much Mad Science Workshoppe, I appreciate it! There's much more I could have gotten into but decided to hold back a little :)

[@andylaweda]

Wow! The Hertsprung-Russell diagram right there on my TV! Sorry Christian if I can't spell HR, my undergraduate astronomy was a long time ago. Until now, I feel like I knew more about "Red Dwarf" the BBC sitcom than actual red dwarf stars, so thank you for this.

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

My pleasure, Andy. I'm glad you dig it!

[@goldenbuglab]

청색왜성에 대해 처음 들었을 때가 떠오르네요. 정말 깜짝 놀라서 어떻게 이럴 수 있지 했었는데...^^ 좋은 영상 고맙습니다.

[@dropshot1967]

You mention that humanity will move to another star in 5 billion years. As I understand some other astronomy channels the sun will be heating up in the comming 500 million years to make earth uninhabittable by then (500 million years from now). The sun will by no means become a red giant in that time, but it will get hotter and the earth with it. I understand that different models for how the sun will evolve likely exist, so if I am wrong please explain. I subscribed to your channel 2 months ago and am enjoying the content so far.

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Yes, that's correct. I decided to hold off on that bit since the Sun's evolution - and its effects on Earth - merit it's own video. Stay tuned, and thanks for subscribing!

[@HomeDronen]

Nice info...thanks for sharing!

[@NeedsMoreSubs]

Like I wasn't already feeling jaded enough about my minuscule life span.

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

And yet here we are, alive and able to appreciate it!

[@AvangionQ]

Orange dwarfs seem to me the most interesting stars, as the top tier for colonization after our species becomes interstellar ... providing we live that long.

[@shinymike4301]

Awesome video! What drives me mad is- if we could all have a Red Dwarf or Blue Dwarf as a pet, which is best? They are both beautiful. Which one would you have, Chris? Anyone else? I'm leaning toward Red.

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Gonna have to go with blue. They're older but they don't nuke your house and make a mess like the younger ones do.

[@shinymike4301]

@@LaunchPadAstronomy :-) You're right, I hadn't considered that !!

[@Dan5482]

Thank you for another nice video.

[@chrism3784]

Another side note, what if in the far far future red dwarfs merge together, very unlikely, but has to happen once in a while and a come together to form main sequence stars again

[@terriquinlan7683]

It's nice to know that we are relying on the vague possibility of some benign alien beings to A. Notice us. B. Give a stuff about our crappy problems C. Be able to do something about it.

[@DrWoodyII]

Great presentation, thank you. With red dwarf violence during their youth, I have always wondered if they were capable of settling down enough to harbor a life zone. Now I know. Also, "black dwarf," how very interesting, perhaps worthy of a closer look.

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Thank you very much. Black dwarfs seem like interesting objects, but we were born too early to study them :)

[@antoniosangervasioproximac3170]

Very very awesome

[@jamesdougan8789]

great video chris as always i always learn something with your videos .. fascinating.. i hope JWST has a good look at this system and others like it cheers james D

[@vf7vico]

An extremely rich and dense discussion, Christian! The prospects of distant future blue dwarf stabilization and the favorable conditions for life on orbiting planets resulting from it is entirely new to me -- too bad the timeline is so remote! Until then, with 85% of stars red dwarfs, and their energies and magnetic fields not exactly hospitable to life formation even in their goldilocks zones, we need telescopes and starlight occlusion technologies for characterizing planets around the smaller population of Sun-like stars. What's the timeline on that? Seems almost a waste of energy to look for life around red dwarfs...

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Thanks Victor, I appreciate it! My understanding is that directly imaging planets around red dwarfs is probably not going to be possible , even with the telescopes that are coming online over the next decade. The reason being is that the goldilocks zones of red dwarfs are too close to their host star to be resolved with the planned telescopes. At least, for the vast majority. Proxima b, Barnard b, etc., "might" be doable since they're close and relatively bright. Something to look into for a future video :)

[@learnpianofastonline]

Good stuff. I find red dwarf stars to be intriguing. I am really looking forward to the next generation of telescopes as they will bring many new discoveries.

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Thanks! Yeah, they are really cool stars. Literally :)

[@beebeesfuntasticadventures6110]

really nice video my friend.

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Thank you so kindly!

[@njm3211]

Fantastic video. Thanks

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Much appreciated, thanks!

[@iknowthings3588]

What is the breaking mechanism you talked about at 8:15 ? How did metals control the size of stars? Were the first generation stars giant only bcz of absence of metals in the gas cloud?

[@quannga99]

I think I’ll go nuts if I live for a billion years.

[@explorewithbaruah]

Red dwarf such a ster may be existence his own planet just like our solar system

[@rJaune]

Well it's nice to know the end of the Universe won't be a dim depressing red color. I like blue, it's cheery.

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

5 billion years of some blue dwarfs isn't too bad.

[@spottheturtle9568]

Q : If a planet around a red dwarf star had an atmosphere with a substantially higher than Earth greenhouse effect, could it reach a sort of equilibrium of habitable temperature without being at a distance where it is tidally locked?

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Very interesting question. In principle, yes it would. Now the question that comes to my mind at least is how to trigger the excess greenhouse effect. Venus got to where it is by the gradual brightening of the Sun which led to an increase in outgassing of the surface, which fed into its greenhouse effect. Not impossible to do it while farther away but there'd need to be another seed mechanism.

[@spottheturtle9568]

@@LaunchPadAstronomy Thanks for the reply. Definitely something more to think about. It is a big universe with all sorts of strange possibilities. I'm sure someone smarter than me could hypothesize a scenario where this might happen. Thanks again.

[@JennySimon206]

Have you guys seen the series of videos called The Primer Fields? Don't kill me please.

[@yonatankanosh7561]

What happens when stars *collide*? I mean in intersteller or interplanetary velocities and directly hitting each other. Have we ever observed such an event?

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

We have seen stars merge and collide, forming "pumkin" or oblate-shaped stars. If the objects are dense enough, such as neutron stars, then the result is a kilonova explosion. It doesn't happen that often however, even when entire galaxies "collide" because space is so big the stars just sail past each other. Makes for a nice show, however :)

[@yonatankanosh7561]

@@LaunchPadAstronomy I bet the magnetic field would be mind blowing

[@JustinMeloMusicVlogs]

Very informative.

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

My pleasure, and thank you as well!

[@lloydtucker5647]

In 7 billion years humanity might have the tech and resources to manufacture stars. As was stated though, if we don't destroy ourselves first.

[@geemanbmw]

Is it possible to see a picture or video of red dwarf stars? All I hear is red dwarfs are 75% of all the stars in the universe and that obviously goes for within our milkyway galaxy but yet I have never seen pictures with all the red dwarfs and of course with high powered telescopes I have never seen this collection of red dwarfs... I have seen all other stars and that's for obvious reasons they are large in comparison example O,B,A F,G, K but with high powered telescopes I still haven't seen what I can't see with the naked eye... can you please show me/ us this Christian? One more thing is it maybe I am seeing these red dwarfs and I don't realize it or are they so dim that even with my decent telescope I can't? Please christian set me straight on this.. please! It's a burning question that's been bothering me

[@deepjyotidas4489]

Very Interesting...thank u

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

+Deepjyoti Das thanks!

[@paularijit123]

Very nice

[@MU-channel]

Enjoyed your interview with Pusa Studio. I believe that communicating science is important (and science is fun) Lately I have created and published a 10 Min. background music track with science channels in mind. It is called "Space". You are more than welcome to check it out and use it in your videos if you find it fitting. Cheers :-)

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Cool, I'll check it out, and thanks for helping with science communication!

[@MU-channel]

👍

[@davidrichardson4361]

I relate to this cat

[@radioboyintj]

I wish our sun was a stellar behemoth

[@myessyallyahamericus8405]

maybe im being shared with by dark cb signals ,cbs is my birth certificate initials and just a small part of my name.

[@davidkrimm9273]

The last stars in the universe will be black dwarf binary systems that slowly lose orbital energy to gravitational waves, collide, and then have sufficient mass to reignite their abundant supply of helium.

[@chucksmith6749]

Slow burning.? No oxidation. Do you mean slow fusing?

[@massimookissed1023]

Yes, but it's commonly referred to as burning.

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Yep, it's jargon we use in the biz :)

[@ljre3397]

Give or take a trillion.

[@dbbdw13]

7B years left for our sun? Isnt it about 4B years till it will become so big, it may swollow the earth?

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Right, I was referring more along the timescales of the Sun's red giant and white dwarf phases, which puts the overall timeline at around 12 billion years, hence my ~7Gyr estimate for the remainder of the sun's life. However, the Sun's fate will be discussed in much greater detail in an upcoming video :)

[@joecausey8508]

How much bigger than Jupiter is the smallest dwarf star?

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Jupiter is about 0.01M⊙, or 1% the Sun's mass. So the least massive red dwarf star is about 7.5 times more massive than Jupiter, or about 7.5% the Sun's mass.

[@joecausey8508]

@@LaunchPadAstronomy Interesting. Thanks.

[@jensphiliphohmann1876]

@@LaunchPadAstronomy But barely larger in diameter. Brown dwarfs and red dwarfs are much denser than Jupiter.

[@jennibaxter9588]

As I watch your videos along w/ other educational videos about the cosmos, I reflect on the moment I learned that our own sun is a star, how my mind was blown!

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

My goal is to experience that feeling as much as possible :)

[@CoolDudeClem]

This video's has been up for nearly a year and nobody's made a smeg joke yet? Allow me to be the first ... SMEG!

[@Azura2910arpg]

I thought smallest stars are brown dwarfs ?

[@pmam1968]

He said that Red Dwarves are the smallest stars that can fuse Hydrogen. Brown Dwarves aren't massive enough.

[@PP-pb6jq]

When i heard 7billion years from now i deleted everything else i heard.

[@navaropalm6111]

It's said that Saturn used to be a dwarf star until the nearby Maldek planet blew up (to form today's astroid-belt) and degraded Saturn into a gas giant planet.

[@nicosmind3]

Jupiter isnt close to large enough to even be a brown dwarf, which is basically a failed star. And its 3 times more massive than Saturn, with way more fuel. You need pressure to get heat and fusion. And you get pressure from size. Otherwise you just have gas, and mostly cold gas at that. Thats just physics. Even if we smacked all our planets into Jupiter you still wouldnt have enough mass/pressure or heat for fusion. If it was any essier we would have created fusion reactors already. But unfortuantelly (or maybe fortunately) Saturn etc cant be stars.

[@nicosmind3]

Oh plus the asteroid belt is between Jupiter and Mars and all its mass is less than (or around) 5% the mass of our moon. And considering Saturn is 10AU away from our sun and Jupiter 5AU its just not big enough to be affecting the belt, i believe. We btw are 1 AU and Mars is 1.5 to give an idea of scale

[@stevenpilling5318]

@@nicosmind3 Jupiter would need to be 14 times its present mass to become a brown dwarf and 75 times to become a red dwarf star. However, in its first few million years of existence, Jupiter behaved like a brown dwarf. The development of its four big moons bears witness to this.

[@navaropalm6111]

@@nicosmind3 First of all I would not hold modern astronomy theories as absolute fact 'cause I believe scientists still know too little to figure it all out. 2ndly we only know the present size of Saturn. We have no idea of its past size. And how do we know how much of Maldek's debris got left there forming the asteroid belt? If it's a huge explosion, wouldn't it make sense a big chunk of it got blown to the outer space? It's said that, in addition to Saturn being a dwarf star and Maldek being its planet, Mecury, Venus, Earth and Mars used to be moons of Maldek so the planetary orbit and entire solar system structure was way different from what scientists know now. Prior to Maldek destruction, its moons were shift away by aliens as precaution and placed on their current orbit after Maldek was gone. "Conspiracy nonsense"! I know, I know. But it seems true. We'll see.

[@MrIrrepressible]

Stick to the facts, dont give us nonsense about advanced civilisations orbiting red dwarves. You have absolutely no clur about if there is life out there so stick to the facts. I thought this was a science fact channel but i see it is s sci-fi channel....unsubscribed!

[@davidkennedy1077]

This answers a whole bunch of questions I've had regarding star types and make up (I always wondered why the largest burnt through their fuel quicker etc) A great bite sized chunk of information, thank you!!!

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Awesome, I'm glad you found it helpful!

[@TheGunmanChannel]

Love your videos mate, keep it up.

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Thank you so much The Gunman, I appreciate it!

[@m00nsplitter72]

I would, after watching many of your videos, like to take the time to thank you for your efforts. You explain, in a very concise and intelligible way, very complex and potentially daunting concepts and systems, to such a degree than even this dim star can comprehend. To do so requires both knowledge and sympathy, and I appreciate both in equal measure.

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Thank you so much for those kind words, I'm truly flattered and grateful.

[@tfsheahan2265]

Good job. I learned several new things about M class stars. Perhaps you're the guy who can disabuse me of my belief that any star that lies along the "main sequence" of an HR diagram is unworthy to be called a' giant' or a 'dwarf'. I'm old enough (70+) to believe that 50 years ago those terms were not applied as they are today. I've even heard our sun referred to as a dwarf star. I don't get it. When did all this happen? Are there no more normal sized stars anymore? Is every thing either a giant or a dwarf?

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

The generic term "dwarf" is refers to any star that is on the main sequence, fusing hydrogen into helium in the core. Since most stars evolve off the main sequence to become a red giant (or red supergiant in the case of massive stars), the term "dwarf" is a shorthand to refer to their pre-giant stages. So yeah pretty much everything is either a giant or dwarf, though there are other phases such as sub giant, as well as objects such as white dwarfs, and non-stellar objects such as brown dwarfs. The term "dwarf" is contextual :)

[@tfsheahan2265]

Well, that explains it then. I wish to lodge a complaint with the astronomical authorities (to which I'm sure they'll give careful consideration) that I don't approve of having no "normal" stars. Have left a similar question several times over the years. You're the first to answer. Thanks. Consider me subscribed.

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Perhaps we should call them "metabolically challenged" instead :) Thanks for subscribing!

[@Phantom.3296]

This channel is so underrated!

[@ajhproductions2347]

The most informative and beautifully crafted video on red dwarfs you can find. It’s pretty cool to have a friendly neighborhood astronomer who does the thinking for me! Cheers 🍻

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Man, thanks so much that just makes my day!

[@ajhproductions2347]

Launch Pad Astronomy you’re freaking perfect man! If I had you as a teacher I’d be working for nasa! Looove your videos and your demeanor. You’re a very likable guy and everything you keep very light and fun. I feel like I went back 30 years to grade school and I’m first learning about space again. Thank you!

[@andywalker9079]

Yet another fascinating episode.

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Thank you so much Andy Walker, I appreciate it!

[@mrvampire7577]

You’re a smeee heee... A smeeee heeee... a smeee heee.

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

SME is me.

[@KarrGalaxyStudios]

Massive star! ;)

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Or not very massive :)

[@authorsheilad6408]

Here from Pusa and joined your team. I hope you do the same also.

[@jari2018]

Shouldn't Alpha Centari and it 2 companion's evolve. Thinking the 2 big star's going to be something like the sun's end star's and then slowly merge maybe into a black hole .Can Alpha Centari survive the blast's - both star's exploding -next the bmerger. And where would Alpha be in that system? farter out or closer when the last neutron star merger happens. 0.1 light year away from supernovas dont seems very confident for life - but maybe the supernovas will add mass to the remaning sun or and add planets blasted away.

[@sbruce899]

Does a star like ours when it was forming go through the red dwarf phase but continues to grow? What stops a star from growing, besides the obvious of running out of material, why did our star stop growing? It appears that there is a lot of material it could have absorbed. Why do some stars get as big as they do? Wouldn't the solar wind blow the material away and prevent growing larger than our star?

[@AsifAAli]

Red Dwarfs are like energy-saver bulbs... :)

[@myessyallyahamericus8405]

black dwarf stars will be seen when instrumentation is more perceptive of their locations that are more numerous then todays equipment has shared to average astronomer. you might see some if you live long enough now that its been revealed to be there by a honest thought experimenter whos done the math on dark matter and measured space and noticed the dark is holding more then can be currently pictured except in affective g force.

[@solanoskids4355]

I like ur vid and i sub ur vid olso i like space and doki doki and like to play mario kart and mario party and im a youtuber i dont make that much video but i made two video so well nothing i

[@tomorowsnobodys]

Lowest mass isn't the same as smallest. Neutron stars are the smallest star. Red dwarf stars are the lowest mass main sequence stars.

[@peterrabbit2965]

I hope that jumper lasts a trillion years. It deserves longevity.

[@rixvillarreal]

Can we infer that yellow stars have red dwarfs on the inside ?

[@safeysmith6720]

Red dwarfs and brown dwarfs are my favourite.

[@desertpunk7588]

62 Red Giant Stars disliked this video...

[@kevinlalonde340]

Your channel is one of the best...im only a lamant but i can totally understand what you are saying. Keep up the great work !!

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Thank you for the kind words, I appreciate them very much!

[@konayuki2105]

Here watch this song

[@doodelay]

Great video

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Thanks so much!

[@jvt1226]

You keep going on about Fusion. On and on. That is not proven. It’s not even testable. Eddington was wrong. So are you. It’s piled high here.

[@aaronjacobs3980]

"That is not proven", we have fusion reactors on Earth (which do fuse elements together)

[@LegionOfWeirdos]

And here I thought a red dwarf was when Peter Dinklage got angry!

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Oopfh!!

[@5688gamble]

Ah, the crimson short ones!

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

I prefer the term "metabolically challenged."

[@Lucas72928]

5:00 what's the name of this type of diagram?

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

It’s a Hertzsrung-Russell diagram but for white dwarf evolution.

[@rocioaguilera3613]

The fascinating and mysterious universe of which Mother Earth is a tiny piece

[@OhioDan]

2:30 Does the other 90% of remaining hydrogen in a sun-like star make up the fuel that it uses upon entering the red giant stage of its development?

[@pmam1968]

No, a sun-like star will only ever fuse about 10% of its Hydrogen. Some of its Helium will eventually fuse into Carbon and possibly Oxygen.

[@AliHSyed]

This is such a rip off of Fraser Cain lol. Good content none the less and more mathematical as well

[@shamusfarmer]

So wait, will blue dwarves have huge solar flares like red dwarves do?

[@Herman-zc7te]

Awesome!

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Thank you so much Sameer Rao, I appreciate it!

[@colinsmith2488]

Great imaginations that carry our minds on the threshold of infinity

[@epsyuma]

Very good video and info! Where do you get your models?

[@jari2018]

What sunsize has the smallest stars that have gone through their deaths -13 billion year smallest sized star that has just "died ? Have they" come down to 0.35% of Sunsize ?

[@LaunchPadAstronomy]

Interesting question, Jari Haukilahti. Given the Sun has a 10-12 billion year lifetime, and the universe is 13.8 billion years old, the lowest-mass stars that could have evolved right now would need to be a second generation star approximately the Sun's mass (maybe a little lighter, ~0.9M⊙).

[@truebetold5393]

WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE ORBITING STARS FAR AWAY WILL FALL OUT? BE MORE SPECIFIC!!!

[@GaminStupid]

Where like atoms u know where so small when you see the fartest thing