Download presentation
Presentation is loading. Please wait.
1
Making a Color-Magnitude Diagram for Globular Cluster Omega Centauri Jay Anderson, STScI 1
2
This is the Early-Release Image of Omega Centauri, taken by WFC3/UVIS on board the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) http://hubblesite.org/gallery/wallpaper/pr2009025q/ 2
3
A close up of the central region. 3
4
This image was made by combining separate red, green, and blue images. 4
5
The red image is from filter F814W, which sees only very red light. 5
6
The green image is from filter F336W, which sees only blue light. 6
7
The blue image is from filter F225W, which sees only ultra-violet light. 7
8
The combined image again. 8
9
The colors are so extreme because… 9
10
… the red stars have almost no blue light, and the blue stars have almost no red light. 10
11
The composite image again. 11
12
Astronomers like to study the colors of stars in a quantitative way. 12
13
They like to sort the stars by color, putting the blue stars on the left and the red stars on the right. 13a
14
They like to sort the stars by color, putting the blue stars on the left and the red stars on the right. 13b
15
They like to sort the stars by color, putting the blue stars on the left and the red stars on the right. 13c
16
They like to sort the stars by color, putting the blue stars on the left and the red stars on the right. 13d
17
They like to sort the stars by color, putting the blue stars on the left and the red stars on the right. 13e
18
They like to sort the stars by color, putting the blue stars on the left and the red stars on the right. 13f
19
They like to sort the stars by color, putting the blue stars on the left and the red stars on the right. 13g
20
They like to sort the stars by color, putting the blue stars on the left and the red stars on the right. 13h
21
They like to sort the stars by color, putting the blue stars on the left and the red stars on the right. 13i
22
They like to sort the stars by color, putting the blue stars on the left and the red stars on the right. 13j
23
They like to sort the stars by color, putting the blue stars on the left and the red stars on the right. 13k
24
Note that there are very few extreme stars; most stars are white, meaning they have a balanced spectrum. 14
25
Astronomers also like to characterize the stars in terms of brightness. 14
26
They like to sort the stars, putting the bright stars on top, and the faint stars on the bottom. 15a
27
They like to sort the stars, putting the bright stars on top, and the faint stars on the bottom. 15b
28
They like to sort the stars, putting the bright stars on top, and the faint stars on the bottom. 15c
29
They like to sort the stars, putting the bright stars on top, and the faint stars on the bottom. 15d
30
They like to sort the stars, putting the bright stars on top, and the faint stars on the bottom. 15e
31
They like to sort the stars, putting the bright stars on top, and the faint stars on the bottom. 15f
32
They like to sort the stars, putting the bright stars on top, and the faint stars on the bottom. 15g
33
They like to sort the stars, putting the bright stars on top, and the faint stars on the bottom. 15h
34
They like to sort the stars, putting the bright stars on top, and the faint stars on the bottom. 15i
35
They like to sort the stars, putting the bright stars on top, and the faint stars on the bottom. 15j
36
They like to sort the stars, putting the bright stars on top, and the faint stars on the bottom. 15k
37
This is called a Color-Magnitude Diagram (CMD). 16
38
When Astronomers first plotted stars this way, they realized that stars don’t fall just anywhere in the diagram. 17
39
Stars tend to lie along a few well-defined sequences. 18
40
The unmistakable order in diagrams like this led astronomers to develop theories to explain stellar evolution. 19
41
The vast majority of stars lie along the Main Sequence (MS). 20a MS
42
Stars don’t move along this sequence; rather they sit at the same place for a long time fusing their hydrogen into helium. 20b MS
43
This is a sequence in mass. Stars at the bright end are massive, and those at the faint, red end have very low masses. 20c MS
44
The more massive stars consume their hydrogen fuel much faster than the lower-mass stars. 20d MS
45
When fuel becomes sparse in the stellar core, stars readjust their internal structure and move red-ward along the Sub-Giant Branch (SGB). 21 MS SGB
46
They start to burn the hydrogen in a shell around the core and become big and bloated as they move up the Red Giant Branch (RGB). 22a MS SGB RGB
47
As the shell-burning continues, more and more helium gets deposited onto the core. 22b MS SGB RGB
48
When the core has enough mass, it is finally able to ignite helium into carbon. 22c MS SGB RGB
49
The star readjusts its structure again and finds itself on the Horizontal Branch (HB). 23a MS SGB RGB HB
50
The helium fuel is not as potent as the hydrogen, so it runs out quickly. 23b MS SGB RGB HB
51
That is why there are so few stars on the HB compared to the MS. Stars do not spend much time on the HB. 23c MS SGB RGB HB
52
When the helium is gone, the star has no more fuel. With nothing left to burn, it fades away into blue darkness as a White Dwarf (WD). 24 MS SGB RGB HB WD
53
Since a star’s color and brightness tell us its evolutionary phase, we can easily identify stars by phase in the image. 25 MS SGB RGB HB WD
Similar presentations
© 2025 SlidePlayer.com. Inc.
All rights reserved.