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What characteristics do scientists use to classify stars?
Astronomers classify stars according to their physical characteristics. Characteristics used to classify stars include color, temperature, size, composition, and brightness. Stars vary in their chemical composition.
How are star types classified?
A star’s color is also determined by the temperature of the star’s surface. Relatively cool stars are red, warmer stars are orange or yellow, and extremely hot stars are blue or blue-white. Color is the most common way to classify stars.
What are the 7 main spectral types of stars?
Stars are classified by their spectra and their temperature. There are seven main types of stars. In order of decreasing temperature, O, B, A, F, G, K, and M. This is known as the Morgan–Keenan (MK) system.
How are temperature and colour related to star classification?
Because temperature and colour are so closely related — heat something up and it glows red, then orange, then yellow, white and eventually blue as you turn up the temperature — it makes sense that you’d classify them based on colour.
How are stars classified according to their spectra?
Stars of similar size, temperature, composition and other properties have similar spectra and are classified into the same spectral class. The main spectral classes for stars range from O (the hottest) through B, A, F, G, K and M (coolest). Our Sun is a G-class star.
How do we classify the Stars in the universe?
If there are either neutral or ionized atoms in the outermost layers of the star, they’ll absorb some of the light at particular wavelengths. These absorption features can add an extra layer of information, and led to the earliest useful classification system.
How can you tell the different colours of a star?
With either good enough skies and a trained observer, or with a quality telescope, a look at the stars immediately shows that they come in different colours.