Yellow dwarf - Definition and Overview

Large solar flare recorded by SOHO EIT304 instrument in the ultraviolet. (Animation (980kB MPEG)).

In astronomy, a yellow dwarf is a small (about 1 to 1.4 solar masses), yellow main sequence star that is in the process of converting hydrogen to helium in its core by means of nuclear fusion.

Our Sun is the most well-known example of a yellow dwarf. A Yellow Dwarf’s lifespan is about 10 billion years. Near the end of their lives, they will begin to swell up and get very large. When this happens to the sun it will grow to swallow up the entire Earth. Eventually it will shrink again and leave most of its gas behind, and form a planetary nebula.

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