How long does the pre-main sequence contraction phase last for a star with the mass of our Sun?
Answer
Roughly 50 million years
The duration of the pre-main sequence phase varies significantly based on the star's mass, but specific timelines can be quantified. For a star that will eventually have a mass identical to our own Sun, the period spent accumulating mass and heating up via gravitational contraction before stable fusion commences lasts for a duration measured in the tens of millions of years. Specifically, this phase lasts for roughly 50 million years. In the grand cosmic timeline, this preparatory stage represents only an infinitesimal fraction of the billions of years the Sun will spend stably burning hydrogen during its main sequence life.
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