Astronomers measured the smallest star among all detected. It is only slightly larger than Saturn, and its gravity is 300 times stronger than the earth.
Such tiny stars are excellent candidates for the search for terrestrial planets with the presence of liquid water on the surface. It is worth remembering at least TRAPPIST-1 - a dwarf surrounded by 7 planets.
The found star was named EBLM J0555-57Ab. It is distant by 600 light years and acts as part of a binary system (the smaller of the two companions). If its mass turned out to be even smaller, then the star would not be able to activate nuclear fusion and the object would be transformed into a brown dwarf. EBLM J0555-57Ab found using WASP - an experiment to search for planets. This object, while observing, passed in front of its large satellite and created an eclipsing binary system. They managed to fix this moment, which helped to determine the mass and size.
It is believed that the star is colder than most exoplanets such as gas giants. TRAPPIST-1 practically corresponds in mass, but it is less than 30% in radius. About such objects, whose mass reaches 20% of the sun, is still little known, because they are difficult to find. But this problem is going to fix the project EBLM, which was engaged in a star in this study.
