Chapter 1: Introduction to Ultracool Concepts

The term "ultracool" seems to generate quite a buzz, yet it's surprisingly absent from many reputable dictionaries. Today’s New York Times Spelling Bee letters include:

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The letters are A, C, L, O, R, T, and a central U (every word must incorporate U). According to Merriam-Webster...

Art: Iva Reztok

It’s amusing to think that ultracool could be deemed non-existent by The New York Times. For a comprehensive list of words that didn't make the cut, refer to the Spelling Bee Master.

What’s your favorite “dord” from today’s puzzle?

My Thoughts on Language and Meaning

When I searched for "ultracool" on Unsplash, I found nothing. This is ironic since zero is a rather ultracool temperature—especially in Fahrenheit.

Writing this column often leads to fascinating discoveries. Although that last sentence wasn’t particularly thrilling, the star and its solar system that I learned about today certainly are.

Now, you may wonder, wouldn’t a star be ultrahot rather than ultracool? To find out, keep reading.

Distinguishing Between Ultracool and Ultracold

Surprisingly, there is a distinction! While Merriam-Webster recognizes ultracool in their collegiate dictionary, it’s missing from the unabridged edition. This is curious since the unabridged dictionary is supposed to encompass all terms from the collegiate version.

Their collegiate dictionary includes "ultracold," which is defined as “extremely low in temperature” or “extraordinarily cold.” Essentially, it’s ultracool without the stylish connotation.

Urban Dictionary, typically a fun resource for slang, didn’t shed much light on this occasion.

Screenshotted by Iva Reztok

Meanwhile, the Oxford English Dictionary has also overlooked the term.

Screenshotted by Iva Reztok

I clicked on "ultracold" out of curiosity and discovered an additional definition:

Credit: oed.com

I had intended to write about this word if it were ever rejected by the Spelling Bee but realized it contains eight letters (the Spelling Bee limits words to seven).

However, I persisted in my search for interesting content to enhance this article, which led me to a captivating subject.

The Fascinating World of Ultracool Stars

It turns out that ultracool stars do exist, but not in the Hollywood sense. I’m referring to dwarf stars, not the derogatory term for short individuals.

Allow me to quote the authors of a study published in Nature:

"Stellar-like objects with effective temperatures of 2700K and below are referred to as 'ultracool dwarfs.' This diverse group includes extremely low-mass stars and brown dwarfs (substellar objects that lack the mass to sustain hydrogen fusion), constituting approximately 15% of the stellar-like entities near the Sun."

(For context, the image at the top of this article depicts a brown dwarf.)

If you’re not proficient in converting Kelvin to Celsius or Fahrenheit, 2700K translates to about 2,427 °C and 4,400 °F. Remarkably, that’s still less than half of our Sun’s surface temperature.

This category of dwarf stars was first defined in 1997 by J. Davy Kirkpatrick, Todd J. Henry, and Michael J. Irwin, and it’s believed that ultracool dwarfs make up around 15% of the astronomical objects in the Sun’s vicinity.

One notable ultracool dwarf gaining popularity is TRAPPIST-1.

Credit: CactiStaccingCrane

You may be disappointed to learn that TRAPPIST-1 is the smaller star on the right, not the larger one on the left. The image compares this ultracool dwarf to our Sun. For a clearer perspective, TRAPPIST-1 is roughly the same size as Jupiter.

Located only 40.7 light-years from our Sun, TRAPPIST-1 is estimated to be 7.6 billion years old, making it older than our Solar System. Discovered in 1999, it was named after the Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope (TRAPPIST) in Chile, which helped identify two terrestrial planets orbiting the star in 2016. A year later, further studies confirmed an additional five planets.

The exciting part? Some of these planets reside within TRAPPIST-1’s habitable zone, the range where liquid water can exist—essential for life as we understand it. Here’s a comparative view of the habitable zones of our Solar System and that of TRAPPIST-1:

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

If you’re curious about visiting one of TRAPPIST-1’s planets on your next trip, we have a brief video for you.

This video provides an overview of the TRAPPIST-1 system and its intriguing possibilities.

Conclusion: Embracing Your Ultracool Identity

Now you’re equipped with knowledge! The next time you're invited to an uninspiring gathering, just say you’re too ultracool to attend. Just be prepared for laughter—not because you’re being obnoxious, but because the Spelling Bee editors have decided that "ultracool" is a dord.

For more on another dord, check out my previous entry:

Fyce A breed of dog you may not know about

What exactly is a dord? Here’s your answer:

'Dord': A Ghost Word One common question posed to lexicographers is whether it’s possible to sneak a term into the dictionary. Can you…

www.merriam-webster.com