In 2003, a spectroscopic survey of red and brown dwarfs identified prominent FeH (iron hydride), CrH (chromium hydride), H 2O (water), CH 4 (methane) and other molecular bands in the spectrum of Wolf 359. The 2005 study derived an age of 200 – 350 million years and a mass of 0.1 – 0.09 M ☉ from a measured effective temperature of 2,800 K and a luminosity of -2.95 L ☉. The absence of lithium indicates that the element must have been used up by the fusion in the star’s core and that the star is at least 100 million years old. It is relatively young, with an estimated age between 100 and 350 million years.Ī study published in 2005 derived an age between 200 and 350 million years for the star based on modelling its spectral energy distribution and on the results of a 1993 study that had not detected any lines of lithium in the spectrum of Wolf 359. Wolf 359 is a relatively slow spinner, with a projected rotational velocity of less than 3 km/s. The study gave the stellar classification M6.5e for the star. The radius of 0.16 solar radii was determined by a 1990 study that combined optical and infrared photometry of red and orange dwarfs, including Wolf 359.
STAR TREK BATTLE OF WOLF 359 FULL
If it replaced the Sun at the centre of our solar system, it would appear only ten times brighter than the full Moon. Wolf 359 has a radius only 16% of the Sun’s and shines with 0.0014 solar luminosities with an effective temperature of about 2,800 K. Since it has less than 0.25 solar masses, it will never become a red giant. Wolf 359 will stay on the main sequence, burning hydrogen into helium, for 8 trillion years. This prevents the buildup of helium in the stellar cores and prolongs the period of fusion, allowing low-mass red dwarfs to maintain the same spectral type and luminosity for trillions of years before they run out of fuel. Stellar models suggest that all red dwarfs with a mass less than 0.35 solar masses are fully convective. Objects with less than 0.08 solar masses are known as brown dwarfs and they cannot trigger sustained nuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium.ĭue to its small size, Wolf 359 is fully convective, which means that the helium generated in the star’s core is transported to the surface by mass movement of plasma. Its mass is just above the lowest limit (0.08 solar masses) at which a star is massive enough to ignite stable hydrogen burning in its core. With a mass of 0.09 solar masses, Wolf 359 is one of the lowest-mass stars known. The suffix “e” indicates emission lines in the star’s spectrum. Wolf 359 is a red dwarf star of the spectral type M6.5 Ve or dM6. The star hosts two exoplanets, designated Wolf 359 b and c, both discovered in 2019. With an apparent magnitude of 13.54, it is invisible to the unaided eye and can only be seen in larger telescopes. It is one of the nearest stars to the Sun. Wolf 359 (CN Leonis) is a faint red dwarf located only 7.86 light years away in the constellation Leo.