Elite Dangerous Wiki

  On the Wiki
      Wiki Activity
      Random page
      Videos
      Photos
      Chat
      Forum
      Policies
  Elite Dangerous
  About Elite
  Community

Contribute Watchlist Random page Recent changes Stars

987pages on this wiki Edit Comments109

There is a wide variety of stars in Elite: Dangerous which are classified by types and subtypes. A star system can have more than one star, some of which may not be used to refuel with a Fuel Scoop. Contents[show] Stellar ClassificationEdit

Each star or dwarf in Elite: Dangerous has an identifier for its classification which conforms to the Morgan–Keenan (MK) classification system.

For example, the Sun of Sol has the classification identifier: G2 V

Each identifier consists of three components:

  Spectral class: A capital letter out of the sequence: O, B, A, F, G, K, M. (A helpful real-world mnemonic for remembering this is, "Oh Be A Fine Girl, Kiss Me.") This mainly specifies the temperature ranging from O (hottest) to M (coolest). Other letters specify extensions to this classification system, namely: W, L, T, Y, C, S, D. A few of those classes have subclasses such as DA, DB and DC as subclasses of D.
  Spectral subclass: Each letter class is then subdivided using a numeric digit with 0 being the hottest and 9 being the coolest.
  Luminosity class: A luminosity class is added to the spectral class using Roman numerals.This classifies the stars by its spectral characteristics considering color and brightness. Those spectral characteristics provide information about the type of the star: 

  0 or Ia for hypergiants
  I for supergiants
  II for bright giants
  III for regular giants
  IV for sub-giants
  V for main-sequence stars (most of the known stars belong to this class)
  VI for sub-dwarfs
  VII for white dwarf 

Thus, G2 V means: The Sun is semi hot (G), it belongs to the hotter stars (2) in class G and it is considered as a so called main-sequence star (V).

Some stars also have a luminosity subclass, indicated after the main luminosity class. For example, a B5 IIIa star would be a particulary bright Blue-White giant, while a B5 IIIb would be a less bright giant, and a B5 IIIab would be somewhere in between. Any luminosity class can have a subclass, although the difference between a B5 IIIa and a B5 IIIb would be much more noticeable than between a M5 Va and a M5 Vb. Star TypesEdit Image Class

Fuel-Scoopable
Rarity
Description

M class 01

M 	Yes 	Very Common 	Class M stars are red stars that form the bulk of the main sequence stars in the galaxy. their mass is low, as is their surface temperature.

Class k star

K 	Yes 	Common 	Class K stars are yellow-orange main sequence stars with a long and generally stable life. They range in mass from 0.6 to 0.9 solar masses and have a surface temperature reaching 5,000 K.

Class L star

L 	No 	Common 	Class L dwarfs are dwarf stars that are cooler than M class stars. They are on the borderline of supporting fusion of hydrogen in their cores, and their temperatures range from 1,300 to 2,400 K, cool enough to have alkaline metals and metal hydrides in their atmospheres.

Class T star

T 	No 	Common 	Class T dwarfs are brown dwarfs with a surface temperature between 700 and 1,300 K. They are sometimes known as Methane Dwarfs due to the prominence of methane in their composition. They are on the borderline between what might be considered a very large gas giant planet and a star.

Class G star

G 	Yes 	Uncommon 	Class G stars are white-yellow main sequence stars. They range in mass from 0.8 to 1.2 solar masses and have a surface temperature reaching 6,000 K.

Class F star

F 	Yes 	Uncommon 	Class F stars are white main sequence stars. They range in mass from 1 to 1.4 solar masses and have a surface temperature reaching 7,600 K.

Y2

Y 	No 	Uncommon 	Class Y dwarfs are the coolest of brown dwarfs. Surface temperatures are less than 700 K, and are effectively very large gas giant planets, with some stellar properties.

Class TTS star TT4

TTS 	No 	Uncommon 	T Tauri type stars are very young stars which are in the process of gravitational contraction.

Note: Take caution when traveling and using a fuel scoop, as the TTS' appearance often resembles M or K stars. Class A star

A 	Yes 	Very Uncommon 	Class A stars are hot white or bluish white main sequence stars. They range in mass from 1.4 to 2.1 solar masses and have a surface temperature reaching 10,000 K.

Class B star

B 	Yes 	Very Uncommon 	Class B stars are very luminous blue-white stars. They range in mass from 2 to 16 solar masses and have a surface temperature reaching 30,000 K. Their lifetimes are shorter than most main sequence stars.

Orange Giant

Orange Giant

(K)

Yes 	Rare 	Orange giant stars with spectral type K. Orange giants like this are reaching the end of their lives, and have moved off the main sequence. Hydrogen has stopped fusing in the core, leaving a collapsed core of degenerate helium, and hydrogen burning is taking place in an outer shell as the star continues to expand.

Red Giant

Red Giant

(M)

Yes 	Rare 	Red giants are in the latter part of their lives. Hydrogen has stopped fusing in their degenerate helium cores and has moved to an outer shell, causing the star to expand. The outer atmosphere is inflated and tenuous, and the surface temperature is below 5,000 K.

Class DA star

DA 	No 	Very Rare 	White Dwarf stars are stellar remnants. Nuclear fusion has now ceased, and in the absence of radiation pressure the core has collapsed to a tiny fraction of the diameter of the original star, heating it up greatly before it begins its slow cooling down phase. Surface temperatures are usually between 8,000 K and 40,000K so these stellar remnants are blue-white. Class DA stars are white dwarf stars with a hydrogen rich atmosphere.

Note: Take caution when approaching these stars, as their heat radius is surprisingly large for their size. DAV

DAV 	No 	Very Rare 	White Dwarf stars are stellar remnants. Nuclear fusion has now ceased, and in the absence of radiation pressure the core has collapsed to a tiny fraction of the diameter of the original star, heating it up greatly before it begins its slow cooling down phase. Surface temperatures are usually between 8,000 K and 40,000K so these stellar remnants are blue-white. DAV class stars are also known as pulsating white dwarfs as their luminosity changes according to non-radial gravity waves within the star. They have hydrogen rich atmospheres.

DB (White Dwarf) Star

DB 	No 	Very Rare 	White Dwarf stars are stellar remnants. Nuclear fusion has now ceased, and in the absence of radiation pressure the core has collapsed to a tiny fraction of the diameter of the original star, heating it up greatly before it begins its slow cooling down phase. Surface temperatures are usually between 8,000K and 40,000K so these stellar remnants are blue-white. Class DB stars are white dwarf stars with a helium rich atmosphere with neutral helium emission lines.

DBV Class Star

DBV 	No 	Very Rare 	Pulsating White Dwarf stars are stellar remnants. Nuclear fusion has now ceased, and in the absence of radiation pressure the core has collapsed to a tiny fraction of the diameter of the original star, heating it up greatly before it begins its slow cooling down phase. Surface temperatures are usually between 8,000K and 40,000K so these stellar remnants are blue-white. DBV class stars are known as pulsating white dwarfs as their luminosity changes according to non-radial gravity waves within the star. They have helium rich atmospheres.

DAB (White Dwarf) Star

DAB 	No 	Very Rare 	White Dwarf stars are stellar remnants. Nuclear fusion has now ceased, and in the absence of radiation pressure the core has collapsed to a tiny fraction of the diameter of the original star, heating it up greatly before it begins its slow cooling down phase. Surface temperatures are usually between 8,000K and 40,000K so these stellar remnants are blue-white. Class DAB stars are white dwarf stars with hydrogen and helium rich atmospheres and neutral helium emission lines.

DC (White Dwarf) Star

DC 	No 	Very Rare 	White Dwarf stars are stellar remnants. Nuclear fusion has now ceased, and in the absence of radiation pressure the core has collapsed to a tiny fraction of the diameter of the original star, heating it up greatly before it begins its slow cooling down phase. Surface temperatures are usually between 8,000K and 40,000K so these stellar remnants are blue-white.

Class DCV Dwarf

DCV 	No 	Very Rare 	White Dwarf stars are stellar remnants. Nuclear fusion has now ceased, and in the absence of radiation pressure the core has collapsed to a tiny fraction of the diameter of the original star, heating it up greatly before it begins its slow cooling down phase. Surface temperatures are usually between 8,000K and 40,000K so these stellar remnants are blue-white. Class DCV stars are white dwarfs with varying luminosity.

DQ

DQ 	No 	Very Rare 	White Dwarf stars are stellar remnants.Nuclear fusion has now ceased, and in the absence of radiation pressure the core has collapsed to a tiny fraction of the diameter of the original star, heating it up greatly before it begins its slow cooling down phase. Surface temperatures are usually between 8,000K and 40,000K so these stellar remnants are blue-white. Class DQ stars are white dwarfs with a carbon rich atmosphere.

Class S star

S 	No 	Very rare 	Class S stars are a late-type giant star (similar to class K5–M) whose spectrum displays bands from zirconium oxide, in addition to the titanium oxide bands characteristically exhibited by K and M class giant stars.

Class O star

O 	Yes 	Very Rare 	Class O type stars are the most luminous and massive main sequence stars in the galaxy. They range in mass from 15 to 90 solar masses and burn very brightly indeed, with a surface temperature reaching 52,000 K so appear very blue. They are very short lived with lifetimes of 1 - 10 million years, ending in supernova.

Neutron star

Neutron Star 	No 	Rare 	Neutron stars are the stellar remnants of massive stars that have reached the end of their lives. Once nuclear fusion was exhausted, the star collapsed into a tiny volume.

Because of its high mass, the matter has collapsed into Neutron-degenerate matter (sometimes called Neutronium), an extremely high density state made up entirely of neutrons (matter composed of stuff other than atoms, such as quarks, protons, neutrons or whatever, is referred to as “degenerate matter”). Unlike most degenerate matter where electrons are below the Fermi-Energy (chemical potential at T=0), the compression is so great that the Fermi-Energy of the electrons increases such that they combine with protons to form neutrons. As the star is in equilibrium, its gravity is balanced by 'neutron degeneracy pressure' (compressed neutron wave functions which are energetic due to the uncertainty principle), though with more mass the system's gravity would overcome the neutron degeneracy pressure forming a black hole. Degenerate matter stars are as dense as matter can possibly be without becoming a black hole.

Note: Take caution when approaching these stars, as they are so tiny they are almost invisible. They still radiate heat, and getting closer than 0.25Ls will cause one's heat to build up. Blue White Supergiant Blue-White Supergiant (Type B)

Blue-White Supergiant

(A, B)

Yes 	Very Rare 	Class A blue-white supergiant star. It is approaching the end of its life and hydrogen burning has stopped in its core, and star has begun expanding towards being red supergiant.

Yellow-White Supergiant (F Class) Yellow-White Supergiant Star

Yellow-White Supergiant

(F, G)

Yes 	Very Rare 	Class F yellow-white supergiant star. It is approaching the end of its life and hydrogen burning has stopped in its core, and star has begun expanding towards being red supergiant.

MS Class Star

MS 	No 	Ultra Rare 	MS class stars are late sequence stars having progressed from the S class stage of their life cycle and heading towards becoming a carbon star, a star nearing the end of its stellar life.

Carbon Class Star

Carbon (C) 	No 	Ultra Rare 	Carbon class stars are stars approaching the end of their life. A carbon star is a late-type star similar to a red giant (or occasionally to a red dwarf) whose atmosphere contains more carbon than oxygen; the two elements combine in the upper layers of the star, forming carbon monoxide, which consumes all the oxygen in the atmosphere, leaving carbon atoms free to form other carbon compounds, giving the star a "sooty" atmosphere and a strikingly ruby red appearance. The surface temperature is rarely higher than 4300 K.

Class C-N Star

C-N, CN 	No 	Ultra Rare 	Class C-N stars are variants of carbon class stars, stars that are approaching the end of their stellar lives as hydrogen fusion begins to stop. They were once K or M type stars that have degenerated to the carbon phase of their life cycle.

CJ Class Star

C-J, CJ 	No 	Ultra Rare 	C-J Class stars are variants of carbon class stars, stars that are approaching the end of their stellar lives as hydrogen fusion begins to stop. This CJ variant has much more carbon-13 in its atmosphere.

M5 IA (VY CANIS MAJORIS) Supergiant

M supergiant size comparison

Red Supergiant

(K, M) (A, B, F, G)?

Yes 	Ultra Rare 	Red supergiants are massive stars near the end of their lives. They have entered a helium burning phase, where helium is fused into carbon and oxygen. they have enormous sizes swelling up to many hundred solar diameters - up to 7 AU in some cases. their out reaches can be quite cool - typically 3500-4500 K.

AEBE

AE/BE 	No 	Legendary (More common in the galactic center) 	Herbig Ae/Be stars are young stars typically less than 10 million years old with characteristics of either A or B class main sequence stars. They are usually between 2 and 8 solar masses. The mass of the proto-star determines its spectral class when it joins the main sequence.

W-Star01

Wolf-Rayet (W) 	No 	Legendary 	Wolf-Rayet class stars are massive stars that are nearing the end of their life cycle and have moved out of their hydrogen-burning phase. They were once over 20 solar masses but now shed considerable amounts of material through solar wind. Their surface temperature can reach 200,000 K, so they appear a brilliant blue.

WC

Wolf-Rayet C Star (WC) 	No 	Very Rare (mostly in AA-A named systems) 	Wolf-Rayet class stars are massive stars that are nearing the end of their life cycle and have moved out of their hydrogen-burning phase. They were once over 20 solar masses but now shed considerable amounts of material through solar wind. Their surface temperature can reach 200,000 K, so they appear a brilliant blue. This star is a variant of the Wolf-Rayet stars whose spectrum is dominated by ionised carbon lines.

Wolf-Rayet O Star

Wolf-Rayet O Star (WO) 	No 	Very Rare (mostly in AA-A named systems) 	Wolf-Rayet class stars are massive stars that are nearing the end of their life cycle and have moved out of their hydrogen-burning phase. They were once over 20 solar masses but now shed considerable amounts of material through solar wind. Their surface temperature can reach 200,000 K, so they appear a brilliant blue. This star is a variant of the Wolf-Rayet stars whose spectrum is dominated by ionised oxygen lines.

Wolf-Rayet NC Star

Wolf-Rayet NC Star (WNC) 	No 	Very Rare (mostly in AA-A named systems) 	Wolf-Rayet class stars are massive stars that are nearing the end of their life cycle and have moved out of their hydrogen-burning phase. They were once over 20 solar masses but now shed considerable amounts of material through solar wind. Their surface temperature can reach 200,000 K, so they appear a brilliant blue. This star is a variant of the Wolf-Rayet stars whose spectrum is dominated by ionised nitrogen, carbon-oxygen and helium lines.

Other Stellar InformationEdit Black HolesEdit Black hole Gliese 2026 B Black Hole - PHYLUWYG GG-X B1-0

  Black holes are typically the stellar remnants of super massive stars of twenty solar masses or more, that have reached the end of their lives. Nuclear fusion has ceased, and the star collapsed to the most extreme point possible - where gravity is so extreme light itself can no longer escape. If matter should fall on to such a body, an extreme burst of gamma radiation will be emitted, but otherwise the body is only visible by the gravitational distortion in the vicinity. In many cases black holes can be seen emitting brightly in X-rays because of matter falling on to their surface from a companion body.

  — Source

  Very Rare 

Note: Obviously going near a black hole is not a good idea, but in the game they are not as dangerous as you may think. When approaching the anomaly you will only take heat damage until your ship drops out of Supercruise, and when you re-activate supercruise, it simply asks you to aim to an escape vector to get away from the black hole. Especially small black holes of only a few solar masses are particularly harmless since they cause insignificant heat buildup, and flying into one is impossible because of the Body Exclusion Zone. Supermassive Black Holes Edit