STARS

J.T. II Olivar, MAEd

Faculty of Arts and Letters
University of Santo Tomas
 Outline of the Lecture
 Properties of Stars
 Binary Stars and Stellar Mass
 Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram
 Nebula
 Stellar Evolution
 Properties of Stars
 Color
 Brightness
 Mass
 Temperature
 Size
 Measuring Distances to the
Stars
 Stellarparallax – most basic
measurement; is the extremely slight
back-and-forth shifting in the
apparent position of a nearby star
due to the orbital motion of Earth.
 1838 – First accurate stellar parallax
 Light-year
– 9.5 trillion kilometers
– 5.8 trillion miles
 Stellar Brightness
 Magnitude
– Apparent magnitude
– Absolute magnitude
 How big?
 How hot?
 How far away?
 Star Color and Temperature
 30,000 K, short wavelength, blue
 3000 K, longer wavelength, red
 5000-6000 K, yellow
 Binary Stars and Stellar Mass
 Mizar – two stars
– “One of the stars in the pair is usually fainter
than the other..”
 William Hershel
 Star pairs
 Visual binaries
 50% in the universe
 Center of Mass – common point where
binary stars orbit each other
 Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram
 EinarHertsprung (Early 20th century)
 Main sequence stars (ordinary stars)
– 90%
 Giants and Dwarfs – 10%
 Variable Stars
 Stars that fluctuate in brightness
– Pulsating variables – fluctuate regularly in
brightness by expanding and contracting in
size
– Eruptive variables – associated with explosive
events; sudden brightening of a star
 Nova – “new”
 Occur in binary systems consisting of an
expanding red giant and a hot white dwarf
that are close in proximity
 Interstellar Matter
 “Vacuum of space” – between two
stars
 Nebula – “cloud”
 Concentration of interstellar matter
 Nebula
 Bright Nebula
– Emission nebulae
 gaseous masses that consist largely of
hydrogen
 absorb UV radiation emitted by a nearby
star
 reradiate energy as visible light
– Reflection nebulae
 Interstellar dust – dense, large particles
 Dark Nebula – “holes in the heavens”
 Stellar Evolution
 Star Birth
 Dust and gases  Protostar  Main-
sequence star  Giant stage 
Variable stage  Planetary nebula
stage  White dwarf stage  Black
dwarf stage
 Nebula  Protostar  Main-sequence
star  White dwarf
 Nebula  Protostar  Main-sequence
star  Red giant  Planetary nebula 
White dwarf
 Nebula  Protostar  Main-sequence
star  Red supergiant  Supernova
explosion  Neutron star
 Nebula  Protostar  Main-sequence
star  Red supergiant  Supernova
explosion  Black hole