star, tiniest star, smallest star, EBLM J0555-57Ab, space,
The smallest star dubbed EBLM J0555-57Ab has been discovered in the Milky Way Galaxy by a team of astronomers led by the University of Cambridge.A Boetticher et al., 2017

Astronomers have discovered the tiniest star present in the Milky Way Galaxy which is hardly as big as the ringed planet Saturn.

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This star is dubbed EBLM J0555-57Ab and according to the scientists it is the smallest star discovered so far, a Gizmodo report stated. The star was discovered by researchers at Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory and Institute of Astronomy.

"Our discovery reveals how small stars can be," Alexander von Boetticher, a Master's student at Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory and Institute of Astronomy and the lead author of the study, explained in a statement.

"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," Boetticher added.

Here are 7 facts to know about the tiniest star in the Milky Way Galaxy:

star, tiniest star, smallest star, EBLM J0555-57Ab, space,
IoA/Amanda Smith
  1. This star is located 600 light-years away from Earth and is defined as one of the densest stellar objects discovered in the solar system so far according to a study called "A Saturn-size low-mass star at the hydrogen-burning limit" published by Astronomy & Physics.
  2. EBLM J0555-57Ab was discovered by a group of researchers who were a part of the team that found the TRAPPIST-1 system -- another tiny and dim star that has seven planets. This tiny star was first noticed when it flew by another giant parent star.
  3. Though it is defined as the tiniest star in the Milky Way Galaxy, large telescope could spot it from the Southern Hemisphere.
  4. The gravitational pull  at the surface of the star is found to be three hundred times stronger than on Earth.
  5. According to the findings by the researchers, this star has just enough mass to result in the fusion of hydrogen nuclei into helium, like in the Sun.
  6. The size of this star is said to be big enough to be qualified as a full-fledged star.
  7. This little star was found by WASP -- a planet-finding experiment -- which is run by the Universities of Keele, Warwick, Leicester and St Andrews.
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