24th February, 2024
ANUPA MUKHERJEE
● Astronomers have discovered a record-breaking star about the size of Saturn yet packs a mass comparable to the planet Jupiter. ● This tiny star challenges how small a star can be.
● This incredibly small star has been named EBLM J0555-57Ab. ● It's part of a binary system located approximately 600 light-years away. ● Despite its size, it still has enough mass to sustain the nuclear fusion that powers stars.
● EBLM J0555-57Ab is slightly larger than Saturn. ● It boasts over 85 times Jupiter's mass and a gravitational pull about 300 times stronger than Earth's.
● Stars form when massive clouds of gas and dust collapse. ● EBLM J0555-57Ab is at the lower mass limit a star needs for hydrogen fusion to occur in its core. ● Any smaller would be classified as a "brown dwarf," a failed star.
● Studying tiny stars like EBLM J0555-57Ab pushes our understanding of star formation. ● There may be even smaller stars waiting to be discovered.