Why (in-universe) can you only scoop from main-sequence stars?
I know that the stars you can fuel-scoop from are the main-sequence ones, but why are these the only ones you can scoop from? The obvious idea would be that they are the only ones with free hydrogen, but (an astronomer friend tells me) T-class stars still have hydrogen, and there's some controversy over whether they should really be considered main-sequence.
Is there some in-universe explanation (official, or even something informal like a developer interview) of the mechanism of the fuel scoop, and what's special about OBAFGKM-class stars that allows the scoop to work on those alone?
Best Answer
The drives in Elite: Dangerous are supposed to run on hydrogen fuel (at least in Frontier and FFE).
Main sequence stars (OBAFGKM) during their main sequence phase contain an abundance of hydrogen (approx 75%) which can be scooped up and used as fuel, typically once this is used up (to some extent) stars move off the sequence. The other star types do not have this abundance of hydrogen and therefore would be less suitable or even completely impossible to refuel from.
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Why do stars leave the main sequence?
When a main-sequence star has consumed the hydrogen at its core, the loss of energy generation causes its gravitational collapse to resume and the star evolves off the main sequence.What happens in the main sequence stage of a stars life?
Main sequence stars fuse hydrogen atoms to form helium atoms in their cores. About 90 percent of the stars in the universe, including the sun, are main sequence stars. These stars can range from about a tenth of the mass of the sun to up to 200 times as massive. Stars start their lives as clouds of dust and gas.Which star is considered a main sequence star?
Definition of a Main Sequence Star A main sequence star is any star that is fusing hydrogen in its core and has a stable balance of outward pressure from core nuclear fusion and gravitational forces pushing inward.Why are there so few upper main sequence stars Why are there so many lower main sequence stars?
Objects above this mass fuse hydrogen too rapidly and cannot stay together. Why are lower main-sequence stars more abundant than upper main-sequence stars? More low-mass main-sequence stars are formed in molecular clouds and lower main-sequence stars have much longer lifetimes than upper main-sequence stars.How Early Stars Were Created - Pre Main Sequence Stars - Universe Sandbox 2
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