Fusor is a proposed term for an astronomical object which is capable of core fusion. The term is more inclusive than " star".
To help clarify the nomenclature of celestial bodies, Gibor Basri [a] proposed to the IAU that any "object that achieves core fusion during its lifetime" be called a fusor. [1]
This definition includes any form of
nuclear fusion, so the lowest possible mass of a fusor was set at roughly 13 MJ (
Jupiter masses) at which point
deuterium fusion becomes possible. This is significantly lower than the point at which sustained fusion of
protium (1
H
, "regular" hydrogen) becomes possible, around 60 MJ. Objects are considered "stellar" when they are about 75 MJ, when their
gravitational contraction is halted by the heat generated by core fusion, establishing
hydrostatic equilibrium, and they become
main sequence stars.
[1] Fusors would include active
stars and many
brown dwarfs.
The introduction of the term "fusor" would allow for a simple definition:
In this context, the word round is understood to mean "whose surface is very nearly on the gravitational equipotential", and orbits to mean "whose primary orbit is now, or was in the past around", and capable implies fusion is possible sometime during the existence of the object by itself. [2]