This is the Milky Way from Concordia Camp, in Pakistan’s Karakoram Range. While many of the stars seen here may have already died, their stellar remnants continue to shine on. (ANNE DIRKSE / ANNEDIRKSE.COM)

When Will The Universe Get Its First ‘Black Dwarf’ Star?

13.8 billion years isn’t close to enough time, but if we wait long enough, even our Sun will become one.

The Big Bang happened approximately 13.8 billion years ago, and it might have only taken 50–100 million years to form the very first stars. Ever since then, the Universe has been flooded with starlight. When enough matter — mostly hydrogen and helium gas — gravitates together into a single, compact object, nuclear fusion must take place inside the core, giving rise to a true star.

But as time goes on and fusion continues, eventually that star will run out of fuel. Sometimes, the star is massive enough that additional fusion reactions will take place, but at some point, it all must stop. Even when a star finally dies, however, their remnants will continue to shine. In fact, except for black holes, every remnant ever created still shines today. Here’s the story of how long we’ll need to wait for the first star to truly go dark.

The Eagle Nebula, famed for its ongoing star formation, contains a large number of Bok globules, or dark nebulae, which have not yet evaporated and are working to collapse and form new stars before they disappear entirely. While the external environment of these globules may be extremely hot, the interiors can be shielded from radiation and reach very low temperatures indeed. (ESA / HUBBLE & NASA)

It all begins from clouds of gas. When a cloud of molecular gas collapses under its own gravity, there are always a few regions that…