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ESA Data Ontology

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Concept information

Stellar astronomy > Stellar types > Stellar spectral types > M stars > M dwarf stars
Stellar astronomy > Stellar types > Late-type stars > M stars > M dwarf stars
Stellar astronomy > Stellar types > Late-type stars > Late-type dwarf stars > M dwarf stars
Stellar astronomy > Stellar types > Stellar evolutionary types > Dwarf stars > M dwarf stars

Preferred term

M dwarf stars  

Definition

  • A star whose spectrum is dominated by the absorption bands of titanium oxide (TiO) and vanadium oxide (VO) and has many neutral metal lines. The effective temperature of M dwarfs ranges from about 3850 to 2600 K. They are low mass stars with masses ranging from 0.6 times that of the Sun at spectral type M0 to less than 0.1 solar masses. M dwarfs are very abundant, they account for about 70-80% of stars in the Galactic disk. The nearest star to the Sun, Proxima Centauri, is an M dwarf. (en)

Broader concept

Entry terms

  • M dwarfs (en)
  • M-type dwarfs (en)
  • M-type dwarf stars (en)
  • M-type main sequence stars (en)
  • Red dwarfs (en)

Contributor

Editorial note

Example

  • Proxima Centauri (en)

URI

http://astrothesaurus.org/uat/982

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