Stars

Colo r Tells us the temperature of the star Red-Coolest Yellow White-Hot Blue-Hottest The color of light can also tell us what the star is made of Using a spectrograph Compare the emission lines with known samples

Stars Brightness of the stars How come some stars don’t look as bright as they actually are? Absolute vs Apparent Magnitude Absolute magnitude is the brightness of a star if it were 32.6 light years from Earth Apparent magnitude is the brightness as seen from Earth

But how are stars born? The Life Cycle of a Star

Regular Stars (marathon runners)

Nebula Stage 1; the birth of a star

Main Sequence Star Stage 2; the star at “middle age”

Red Giant Star Stage 3; the star reaching retirement

Planetary Nebula (Stage 4)

Planetary Nebula

White Dwarf Stars Stage 5; Old stars die slowly

White Dwarf Stars Stage 5; Old stars die slowly Stage 4; Old stars die slowly

Red Dwarf Star Stage 5; some stars cool quicker

Brown Dwarf Stars Stage 5; another cooler, slow death

Giant Star (sprinters)

Nebula Stage 1; the birth of a star

Main Sequence Star Stage 2; the star at “middle age”

Red Supergiant Star Stage 3; a massive blue star retires early

Red Supergiant Star Stage 3; a massive red star retires early

Supernova Stage 4; sudden death, and super giant explodes

Neutron Star The leftovers of an ancient supernova (Stage 5)

Pulsar A spinning neutron star spews neutrons into space (Stage 5)

Black Hole The leftovers of a supernova recollect to become more massive than any other star

Black Hole (Stage 5)