Question

What is the minimum mass needed for a star to be on the main sequence? What happens to stars that do not meet the minimum mass?

Answer 1

Main sequence stars are characterised by the source of their energy.They are all undergoing fusion of hydrogen into helium within their cores. The mass of the star is the main element for such process or phenomenon to take place for it is a determinant of both the rate at which they perform the said activity and the amount of fuel available. 

To answer the question, the lower mass limit for a main sequence star is about 0.08. If the mass of a main sequence star is lower than the above-mentioned value, there would be a deficit or insufficiency of gravitational force to generate a standard temperature for hydrogen core fusion to take place and the underdeveloped star would form into a brown dwarf instead.