What object results if a core fails to accumulate mass greater than 8% of the Sun's mass?
Answer
Brown dwarf
The fate of the collapsing core hinges entirely on the total mass it successfully accumulates during its formation phase. If the central object gathers insufficient material—specifically, less than approximately 8% of the Sun’s mass ($0.08 M_{ ext{Sun}}$)—it will never achieve the necessary core temperature and density required to kickstart sustained nuclear fusion reactions. When this critical threshold is not met, the object settles into the status of a brown dwarf. Astronomers often refer to the brown dwarf as a 'failed star' because, although it is heated by contraction, it cannot sustain the hydrogen burning that characterizes a true main-sequence star.
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