The smallest star ever seen has been found by astronomers in the depths of space, an incredible find. This star, known as TMTS J0526, is a member of a binary system that is a startling 2,760 light-years away and is only seven times larger than Earth. The shocks don’t stop there, either, because J0526A, its companion, is a record-breaking white dwarf with a mass that is comparable to 74% of our Sun.
The star, designated J0526B, is a blazing subdwarf with an impressive mass roughly one-third of the Sun’s mass packed into its tiny form despite its modest size. In comparison, the mass of this small star is almost 350 times that of Jupiter.
The two stars in this binary system orbit each other in a mere 20.5 minutes, which is the smallest orbital period known for any binary star system. This is what makes the binary system so unusual. The two stars’ intimate dance has a significant impact on how they interact and evolve.
The identification of TMTS J0526 illuminates the diversity of stars and their evolutionary histories. The final stage of stars like our Sun, which are too small to explode as supernovae, are called white dwarfs, like J0526A. These stars are shedding their outer layers as they develop, revealing a dense core that is only little bigger than Earth.
The results provide important new information on the origin and development of stars and were made possible by observations from the Tsinghua University-Ma Huateng Telescope for Survey (TMTS). Astronomers aim to learn more about the processes that shape celestial bodies and to solve the riddles of the cosmos by examining objects like TMTS J0526.
This remarkable finding emphasizes the continued progress in astronomy and emphasizes how big the universe is, and how even the tiniest stars can have enormous significance.