red dwarf

noun Astronomy.

any of the faint reddish stars having diameters about half that of the sun and low surface temperatures, about 2000–3000 K; a main sequence star of spectral type M.

Origin of red dwarf

First recorded in 1915–20

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British Dictionary definitions for red dwarf

red dwarf

noun

one of a class of small cool main-sequence stars

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

red dwarf in Science

red dwarf

A small, dim star with relatively cool surface temperatures, positioned to the lower right on the main sequence in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. Red dwarfs, at about 0.1 to 0.5 solar mass, consume their nuclear fuel very slowly and live for about 100 billion years. Although they are difficult to see, they are so long-lived that they are likely the most abundant type of star; of the 30 nearest stars to Earth, 21 are red dwarfs, including the closest star, Proxima Centauri. See Note at dwarf star.