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A simple chart for classifying the main star types using Harvard classification In astronomy , stellar classification is the classification of stars based on their spectral characteristics. Electromagnetic radiation from the star is analyzed by splitting it with a prism or diffraction grating into a spectrum exhibiting the rainbow of colors ...
A peculiar characteristic of this form of the H–R diagram is that the temperatures are plotted from high temperature to low temperature, which aids in comparing this form of the H–R diagram with the observational form. Although the two types of diagrams are similar, astronomers make a sharp distinction between the two.
In the CNO cycle, the energy generation rate scales as the temperature to the 15th power, whereas the rate scales as the temperature to the 4th power in the proton-proton chains. [2] Due to the strong temperature sensitivity of the CNO cycle, the temperature gradient in the inner portion of the star is steep enough to make the core convective.
As this is the core temperature of a star with about 1.5 M ☉, the upper main sequence consists of stars above this mass. Thus, roughly speaking, stars of spectral class F or cooler belong to the lower main sequence, while A-type stars or hotter are upper main-sequence stars. [ 16 ]
The surface temperature of a main sequence star is determined by the rate of energy production of its core and by its radius, and is often estimated from the star's color index. [169] The temperature is normally given in terms of an effective temperature , which is the temperature of an idealized black body that radiates its energy at the same ...
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A good example is Plaskett's star, a close binary consisting of two O type giants both over 50 M ☉, temperatures over 30,000 K, and more than 100,000 times the luminosity of the Sun (L ☉). Astronomers still differ over whether to classify at least one of the stars as a supergiant, based on subtle differences in the spectral lines. [4]
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