The star Ayu

The planet Tekuo orbits a star known in Lemohai as Ayu. Ayu is a type G6V star. This means it is like our sun (Sol) but a little smaller and weaker. Sol is a type G2V star.

Type G stars are also known as yellow dwarfs. The designation G tells us that Ayu fuses hydrogen. The V tells us that it is on the main sequence, that is to say it is an active, burning star.

G_V stars also receive a numerical designation. The largest ones are G0V and the smallest are G9V. As a G6V star, Ayu is therefore one of the smaller type G stars. If we say Sol has a mass of 1, then Ayu has a mass of 0.97.

The masses of the two stars may be similar but they have very different luminosity. Sol has a luminosity of 1.02 and emits a whiteish light. Ayu has a luminosity of just 0.79. Its light is best described as yellow-white.

Type G stars stay on the main sequence for around 10 billion years. Sol is some 4.6 billion years old. As Ayu is amongst the smaller type G stars, it burns more slowly, so can be expected to last around 11 billion years. It is currently around 4 billion years old.

By David Johnson

Conlanger, writer and activist.

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