A Class L star is a type of red dwarf or brown dwarf. They are 65 - 80 times as massive as Jupiter and their temperature is generally in between 1,880 to 3,860°F (1,026.7 to 2,126.7°C) [1]. Massive Class L stars are at the limits of smallest stars capable of fusing hydrogen and helium, whereas less massive ones fuse deuterium and lithium instead[2]. They appear to be a dim orange-red with their spectrum peaking in the infrared.
Class L stars often begin their life with emissions in the Class M spectrum with a temperature of over 4,940 F (2,726.7 C) but cool off and become dimmer over time. The more luminous L-types can live for trillions of years before becoming blue dwarfs. The cores of L-class stars are 3,500,000°K (6,000,000-6,500,000°F)
Class L stars have a habitable zone in between 0.007 and 0.04 AU, or between 1,050,000 to 6,700,000 km, which is 10 - 54 times as close as Mercury's orbit to the Sun. This close distance would leave the planet tidally locked to the star. This combined with the low temperatures, leaves Class L stars extremely poor candidates for life.
While Class L0-L5 types are red dwarfs, the dimmer L6-L9 types are considered brown dwarfs.
Contents
Life
The most massive L-class stars will exhaust their hydrogen fuel in about 3-20 trillion years. They will soon collapse under their cores' own gravity, becoming dwarf stars of classes F-B, about the size of Neptune. When the star's collapse is finalized, a white dwarf will be left. The white dwarf will cool down over quadrillions of years before becoming a black dwarf.
For less massive L-class stars, it's a different story. They will just cool and cool, becoming T-class several aeons from now. The Class T star, which was born as Class L, will further cool into a Class Y star. After the Class Y star cools to nearly 2 K, the star will officially be dead, a black dwarf.
Properties
| Spectral type | Mass | Radius | Luminosity | Temperature (Fahrenheit) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| L0V | 0.085 | 0.110 | 0.00031 | 3,680 |
| L1V | 0.080 | 0.105 | 0.00019 | 3,320 |
| L2V | 0.077 | 0.100 | 0.00012 | 2,996 |
| L3V | 0.074 | 0.097 | 0.00009 | 2,780 |
| L4V | 0.072 | 0.092 | 0.00007 | 2,690 |
| L5V | 0.070 | 0.088 | 0.00006 | 2,600 |
References
See Also
| Stellar Classes |
|---|
| Φ · Ψ · Ω · Q · DE · GR · σ ς · Θ · N · D · BS · Y · T · L · M · C · S · QS · K · G · F · A · B · LBV · β · O · W · N · X · n0 · Exotic (Π · Σ · Γ · Δ · μ) · δ · I · TŻO · BL · ℃ · ⩡ |
| Brown Dwarf Classes |
|---|
| P · Z · Y · T · L |
