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The Coldest Stars In The Galaxy (How Cold Can They Get?)
A look at the world of cold star exploration
Stars are known to be some of the hottest objects ever discovered. The surface of our sun boils at an astounding 10,000 F, with hotter temperatures raging deep within the star. The only things on Earth that can consistently reach those temperatures are bolts of lightning and controlled nuclear reactions. Stars are so synonymous with hot that few people realize some stars can be positively chilly.
As space exploration technology has grown better in recent years, new stars that were previously hiding have started to be unearthed. These stars are extremely cool compared to stars like our sun, and they emit hardly any light or radio waves. That makes them nearly impossible to find. They also tend to be tied to other brighter and larger stars, which obscure them from view.
In 2011, NASA declared a new classification of stars. Using Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), NASA has been scouring the void for the coldest and dimmest stars imaginable. And they found quite a few of them. NASA dubbed these stars Y-dwarves and they are often cooler than the air outside your window. But these stars come with a lot of questions.
So, how cold are these stars? Why are they so cold? And where are they? Do they…
