Red and Brown Dwarfs: Understanding Our Smallest and Closest Stellar Neighbors

Serge Dieterich of the Space Telescope Science Institute The majority of stars in our galaxy are smaller than our sun and some have diameters as small as Saturn’s. Many small red dwarfs are among the closest stars to our solar system, but are quite faint, making them harder to study. Both as individual objects and as a population, small stars have intriguing characteristics, some with distinct implications for what life on their planets could be like. It is also important to consider what properties are necessary for a body to be considered a star and how small stars are different from their lower mass cousins, the substellar brown dwarfs. Host: Dr. Frank Summers of the Space Telescope Science Institute Recorded live on Tuesday, December 3, 2019, at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. More information: www.stsci.edu/public-lectures