<div align="justify">Scientists have discovered the smallest known star in the universe - slightly larger than Saturn in size - which may possibly have Earth-sized planets with liquid water in its orbit.<div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">Researchers from University of Cambridge in the UK identified the star located about six hundred light years away, called EBLM J0555-57Ab as it passed in front of its much larger companion.</div><div align="justify"><br />The star is likely as small as stars can possibly become, as it has just enough mass to enable the fusion of hydrogen nuclei into helium, researchers said.</div><div align="justify"><br />If it were any smaller, the pressure at the centre of the star would no longer be sufficient to enable this process to take place, they said.</div><div align="justify"><br />With a size just a sliver larger than that of Saturn, the gravitational pull at its stellar surface is about 300 times stronger than what humans feel on Earth.</div><div align="justify"><br />The discovery is also the best possible candidates for detecting Earth-sized planets which can have liquid water on their surfaces, such as TRAPPIST-1, an ultracool dwarf surrounded by seven temperate Earth-sized worlds, researchers said.<br /><br />"Our discovery reveals how small stars can be. Had this star formed with only a slightly lower mass, the fusion reaction of hydrogen in its core could not be sustained, and the star would instead have transformed into a brown dwarf," said Alexander Boetticher, Master's student at University of Cambridge.<br /><br />The star was identified by WASP, a planet-finding experiment run by several universities.<br /><br />EBLM J0555-57Ab was detected when it passed in front of, or transited, its larger parent star, forming what is called an eclipsing stellar binary system.</div><div align="justify"><br />The parent star became dimmer in a periodic fashion, the signature of an orbiting object.</div><div align="justify"><br />Researchers measured the mass of the star was established via the Doppler, wobble method, using data from the CORALIE spectrograph.</div><div align="justify"><br />This star is smaller, and likely colder than many of the gas giant exoplanets that have so far been identified, researchers said.<br /><br />While a fascinating feature of stellar physics, it is often harder to measure the size of such dim low-mass stars than for many of the larger planets, they said.</div><div align="justify"><br />"Thankfully, we can find these small stars with planet- hunting equipment, when they orbit a larger host star in a binary system. It might sound incredible, but finding a star can at times be harder than finding a planet," Boetticher said.<br /><br />The star has a mass comparable to the current estimate for TRAPPIST-1, but has a radius that is nearly 30 per cent smaller.</div><div align="justify"><br />"The smallest stars provide optimal conditions for the discovery of Earth-like planets, and for the remote exploration of their atmospheres," said Amaury Triaud, senior researcher at University of Cambridge.</div><div align="justify"><br />The study appears in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.</div></div>
<div align="justify">Scientists have discovered the smallest known star in the universe - slightly larger than Saturn in size - which may possibly have Earth-sized planets with liquid water in its orbit.<div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">Researchers from University of Cambridge in the UK identified the star located about six hundred light years away, called EBLM J0555-57Ab as it passed in front of its much larger companion.</div><div align="justify"><br />The star is likely as small as stars can possibly become, as it has just enough mass to enable the fusion of hydrogen nuclei into helium, researchers said.</div><div align="justify"><br />If it were any smaller, the pressure at the centre of the star would no longer be sufficient to enable this process to take place, they said.</div><div align="justify"><br />With a size just a sliver larger than that of Saturn, the gravitational pull at its stellar surface is about 300 times stronger than what humans feel on Earth.</div><div align="justify"><br />The discovery is also the best possible candidates for detecting Earth-sized planets which can have liquid water on their surfaces, such as TRAPPIST-1, an ultracool dwarf surrounded by seven temperate Earth-sized worlds, researchers said.<br /><br />"Our discovery reveals how small stars can be. Had this star formed with only a slightly lower mass, the fusion reaction of hydrogen in its core could not be sustained, and the star would instead have transformed into a brown dwarf," said Alexander Boetticher, Master's student at University of Cambridge.<br /><br />The star was identified by WASP, a planet-finding experiment run by several universities.<br /><br />EBLM J0555-57Ab was detected when it passed in front of, or transited, its larger parent star, forming what is called an eclipsing stellar binary system.</div><div align="justify"><br />The parent star became dimmer in a periodic fashion, the signature of an orbiting object.</div><div align="justify"><br />Researchers measured the mass of the star was established via the Doppler, wobble method, using data from the CORALIE spectrograph.</div><div align="justify"><br />This star is smaller, and likely colder than many of the gas giant exoplanets that have so far been identified, researchers said.<br /><br />While a fascinating feature of stellar physics, it is often harder to measure the size of such dim low-mass stars than for many of the larger planets, they said.</div><div align="justify"><br />"Thankfully, we can find these small stars with planet- hunting equipment, when they orbit a larger host star in a binary system. It might sound incredible, but finding a star can at times be harder than finding a planet," Boetticher said.<br /><br />The star has a mass comparable to the current estimate for TRAPPIST-1, but has a radius that is nearly 30 per cent smaller.</div><div align="justify"><br />"The smallest stars provide optimal conditions for the discovery of Earth-like planets, and for the remote exploration of their atmospheres," said Amaury Triaud, senior researcher at University of Cambridge.</div><div align="justify"><br />The study appears in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.</div></div>