# Astronomy:Blue dwarf (red-dwarf stage)

Short description: Hypothetical class of star that develops from a red dwarf

A blue dwarf is a predicted class of star that develops from a red dwarf after it has exhausted much of its hydrogen fuel supply. Because red dwarfs fuse their hydrogen slowly and are fully convective (allowing their entire hydrogen supply to be fused, instead of merely that in the core), the Universe is currently not old enough for any blue dwarfs to have formed yet, but their future existence is predicted based on theoretical models.[1]

Stars increase in luminosity as they age, and a more luminous star needs to radiate energy more quickly to maintain equilibrium. Stars larger than red dwarfs do this by increasing their size and becoming red giants with larger surface areas. Rather than expanding, however, red dwarfs with less than 0.25 solar masses are predicted to increase their radiative rate by increasing their surface temperatures and becoming "bluer". This is because the surface layers of red dwarfs do not become significantly more opaque with increasing temperature.[1] Despite their name, blue dwarfs do not necessarily increase in temperature enough to become blue stars. Simulations have been conducted on the future evolution of red dwarfs with stellar mass between 0.06M and 0.25M.[1][2][3] Of the masses simulated, the bluest of the blue dwarf stars at the end of the simulation had begun as a 0.14M red dwarf and ended with surface temperature approximately 8600K, making it a Type A blue-white star.

Blue dwarfs eventually evolve into white dwarfs once their hydrogen fuel is completely exhausted,[1] which in turn will eventually cool to become black dwarfs.

## References

1. Adams, F. C.; P. Bodenheimer; G. Laughlin (2005). "M dwarfs: planet formation and long term evolution". Astronomische Nachrichten 326 (10): 913–919. doi:10.1002/asna.200510440. Bibcode2005AN....326..913A.
2. Laughlin, G.; Bodenheimer, P.; Adams, F.C. (10 June 1997). "The End of the Main Sequence". The Astrophysical Journal 482: 420-432.
3. Adams, F.C.; Laughlin, G.; Graves, G.J.M. (2004). "Red Dwarfs and the End of the Main Sequence". 22. pp. 46-49.