Hypothetical star

A hypothetical star is a star, or type of star, that is speculated to exist but has yet to be definitively observed. Hypothetical types of stars have been conjectured to exist, have existed or will exist in the future universe.

Types

Scientifically speculated hypothetical types include:

Type Description Candidates Notes Refs
Blitzar Pulsar with rotation so rapid that it collapses into a black hole.
Blue dwarf conjectured to develop after a red dwarf has exhausted its hydrogen. N/A The universe is not old enough for this form to come into existence.
Black dwarf the final state for a star, like the Sun, that is too small to become either a black hole or a neutron star. It would take a star like our Sun roughly a quadrillion years to reach this state, so none are believed to exist today. N/A The universe is not old enough for this form to come into existence.
Black star a star predicted in semiclassical gravity which collapses into a black hole state but has neither a gravitational singularity nor an event horizon.
Boson star a star or astronomical object made of bosons, such as photons or gluons, rather than conventional matter. none
Dark energy star a conjectured alternative to a black hole.
Dark matter star conjectured to have existed early in the universe.
Dark star a theoretical construct based on Newtonian gravitation, of a star with gravity so strong that even light cannot escape. N/A This form cannot exist, as Newtonian gravitation is not correct under these gravity conditions.
Electroweak star a star where gravitational collapse is prevented by radiation pressure resulting from electroweak burning. none
Frozen star A very low-mass star with a surface temperature of only around 273 kelvins that could form in the far future, when the metallicity of the interstellar medium is several times the current one. N/A The universe is not old enough for this form to come into existence.
Fuzzball a formulation of black holes in string theory.
Gravastar an alternative to a black hole that denies the possibility of a singularity.
Grey hole a conjectured type of neutron star, where most light does not escape the star. [1]
Iron star a final state for a star in the far future (101500 years) of the universe, when all matter is transmuted to iron via quantum tunnelling. N/A The universe is not old enough for this form to come into existence.
Magnetospheric eternally collapsing object a hypothetical alternative to black holes.
Planck star a star where the energy density is around the Planck density.
Population III star stars virtually free of metals believed to have existed in the early universe. none
Preon star a star with a core composed of preons. none
Q star a compact, heavy neutron star with an exotic state of matter. V404 Cygni
Quark star star composed of quark matter or strange matter. 3C 58, PSR B0943+10, XTE J1739-285
Quasi-star a conjectured star from the early universe with a black hole at its center. none
Strange star a form of quark star, a neutron star with strange matter at its core, or star which is a ball of strange matter.
Thorne–Żytkow object a red giant or red supergiant whose core is a neutron star. U Aquarii[2]
White hole the polar opposite of a black hole, it ejects matter from its core into space.

Specific stars

Specific hypothetical stars include:

Star Description Notes Refs
Nemesis a star proposed as a companion to the Sun by Richard A. Muller in 1984
3 Cassiopeiae a star recorded by astronomer John Flamsteed, but never seen again
34 Tauri a star recorded by John Flamsteed later revealed to have been the planet Uranus

See also

References

  1. K. Brecher; "Gray Holes", American Astronomical Society, 182nd AAS Meeting, #55.07; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 25, p.89, May 1993, Bibcode: 1993AAS...182.5507B
  2. Vanture, Andrew; Zucker, Daniel; Wallerstein, George (April 1999). "Is U Aquarii a Thorne–Żytkow Object?". The Astrophysical Journal. 514 (2): 932–938. Bibcode:1999ApJ...514..932V. doi:10.1086/306956.

Schunck, F.E. and E.W. Mielke: ``General relativistic boson stars", Class. Quantum. Grav. Vol. 20, R301 - R356 (2003)

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