Why the smallest stars are the marathon runners of the cosmos
In short: While massive stars burn out in a cosmic flash, low-mass stars play the long game. This video explores their multi-trillion-year life cycles and the eventual fate of our own solar system.
Low-mass stars are defined by their endurance, capable of fusing hydrogen into helium over a span of approximately one trillion years. In contrast, stars similar to our Sun live significantly shorter lives, eventually transitioning into red giants as they begin fusing helium into heavier elements like carbon, oxygen, and neon.
The video details the transition of these stars as they expand, brighten, and cool. After losing most of their mass and exposing their cores, they spend many billions of years cooling down. It also addresses the ultimate fate of Earth as the Sun reaches the end of its life cycle.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Low Mass Stars: Crash Course Astronomy #29
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