Question

Discuss the characteristics of cool red dwarf stars, including their mass and age.

Answer 1

Explanation:

Following are the some of the characteristics of Red Dwarf Stars:

1. Their mass is around 0.08 to 0.5 times mass of the Sun. Because of their small size they burn at a low temperature and less rapidly. Because of their small size they are very faint as well.

2. Their temperature goes to a maximum of around 3500°C much lower than the average temperature of the Sun (5800°C).

3. They lie in K and M spectral class of stars.

4. They are main sequence stars.

5. They evolve very slowly and can live up to more than 100 billion years meaning lasting more than the Universe itself.

6. The energy transfer is done through complete convection which doesn't allow Helium fusion to start and thus these stars don't attain the Red giant stage and become white dwarf after hydrogen is exhausted in the core.

Answer 2

Red dwarfs include the smallest stars commonly weighing between 0.075 to 0.50 percent the mass of the sun, their small size means they burn at a slower rate meaning a dwarf star is to long exceed the life of the universe, their reduced mass also means their surface is very cool