STARS

OBJECTIVE:

● Define Stars
○ Characteristics of Stars
■ Size
■ Color/Temperature
■ Brightness (Magnitude)
 STAR
a great ball of gas formed mostly
from hydrogen which is converted
To helium through fusion.
SUN ● 4.5 billion years old
● 5,505 °C, 15 million °C
in core
● light reaches the Earth
in 8 mins.
● Largest in our solar
system but average
compare to other stars.
● 73% hydrogen, 25%
helium, and 2% other
elements.
 CHARACTERISTICS

01 02
SIZE COLOR/
TEMPERATURE

03
BRIGHTNESS
01
SIZE Stars can be classified according to their sizes:
 SUPERGIANT GIANT DWARF
more than 1500 times about 1000 wider about as massive as
larger than our Sun larger than the Sun the Sun, yet only
slighter bigger than
the Earth

Ex: UY Scuti Ex: Alcyone (η Tauri) Ex: Proxima Centauri

& 61 Cygni
02
COLOR/
TEMPERATURE
The color of the stars is
interrelated to its
temperature
 03
BRIGHTNESS
Which do you think is
the brightest star in
the night sky?
Rigel's luminosity is 120,000
times brighter than the Sun
while Sirius' luminosity is only
about 25 times brighter than
the Sun. Since Sirius is so
much closer to Earth than
Rigel, it appears much
brighter even though it is
smaller and cooler.
2 WAYS TO MEASURE THE
BRIGHTNESS OF A STAR
1. Apparent Magnitude
2. Absolute Magnitude
APPARENT MAGNITUDE
is the brightness seen
from the earth (Observer
point of view)
ABSOLUTE MAGNITUDE
is the brightness of a star
seen from the standard
distance of 32.6 light years
or 10 parsecs.
THANK YOU!