What is the maximum estimated lifespan for the smallest red dwarfs due to their slow fuel consumption?

Answer

Up to 10 trillion years

Red dwarfs are the longest-lived stars in the cosmos because they burn their nuclear fuel, primarily hydrogen, at an exceptionally slow rate due to their low mass and low core temperatures. This slow burn allows them to remain on the main sequence for timescales vastly exceeding the current age of the universe. The estimated lifespan for the smallest red dwarfs can reach an astonishing 10 trillion years. This longevity is further enhanced by their fully convective interiors, which constantly remix the helium 'ash' generated by fusion back into the core region, allowing the star to consume almost all of its available hydrogen fuel over that extended epoch, unlike stars like the Sun which exhaust their core hydrogen much sooner.

What is the maximum estimated lifespan for the smallest red dwarfs due to their slow fuel consumption?

#Videos

The Smallest Stars in the Universe - Red Dwarfs - YouTube

What Types Of Dwarf Star Are There? - YouTube

Related Questions

What is the critical lower mass limit ($M_{\odot}$) for sustained core hydrogen fusion defining a true red dwarf star?How does the radius of EBLM J0555-57Ab compare to the radius of Jupiter?What is the maximum estimated lifespan for the smallest red dwarfs due to their slow fuel consumption?On the Hertzsprung-Russell (H-R) diagram, where do red dwarfs typically occupy?What celestial bodies are classified below the $0.075 M_{\odot}$ mass limit, failing stable hydrogen fusion?What structural feature characterizes the smallest red dwarfs, enabling almost total hydrogen consumption?Which spectral classes define the smallest true stars, according to astronomical precision?Approximately what fraction of all stars in the Milky Way are estimated to be red dwarfs?What is the approximate surface temperature ($ ext{K}$) of our Sun, a yellow dwarf?What core temperature ($ ext{K}$) is necessary to sustain conventional hydrogen fusion defining a true star?
classificationastronomystarssmallest