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List of Di erent Star Types 5 Bizarre

Paradoxes Of
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2014  48

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10 Beautiful
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While there are several star classi cation systems in use today, the
Morgan–Keenan (MK) system is both the easiest to master, and the Nebulae Named
after Aquatic
one that makes the most sense to amateur observers. Using the
Animals
letters O, B, A, F, G, K and M, stars are easily classi ed from hottest
 December 2,
(O) to coolest (M). The temperature of each spectral class is then 2017  0
further subdivided from hot to cool by the simple addition of a
number, where 0 is the hottest and 9 the coolest. For instance, the
hottest stars in class A are A0, and then A1, A2, etc all the way to 7 Mysteries Of
A9, the coolest A type star. Time Explained
 October 3, 2015
 0
That said, this list shows the main star types using the Morgan–
Keenan system. It also provides some quick facts about each type
of star, as well as a few details on the physical properties of each NEWS
class. Also, note that stellar luminosities, radii, and masses are
given relative to the Sun’s luminosity, radius, and mass. Asteroid
Apophis To Pass
Although the relative colors of each broad category of star is Within 19,000
Miles of Earth in
mentioned, barring the very brightest example of each color, all
2029
stars generally appear white. The reason being that the colors of
 May 1, 2019 
stars are usually too dim to activate color vision in human eyes. 0

Blue Stars
Supermassive
-Spectral Type: O, B Black Hole
Image A First
-Life Cycle: On the main sequence
For Astronomy
-Prevalence: ~0.00003%
 April 13, 2019 
-Typical temperature: ~30,000K 0
-Typical luminosity: ~100 to
~1,000,000
-Typical radius: ~2.7 to ~10 Exoplanet
Observed Using
-Typical mass: ~2.5 to ~90
Light From
-Typical age: < ~40 million years Optical
Telescopes
Examples of blue stars include 10 Lacertae, AE Aurigae, Delta  April 3, 2019 
Circini, V560 Carinae, Mu Columbae, Sigma Orionis, Theta1 Orionis 0

C, Zeta Ophiuchi.

Properties Destroying
Earthbound
Asteroid Harder
Blue stars are typically hot, O-type stars that are commonly found Than Thought
in active star forming regions, particularly in the arms of spiral  March 13, 2019
galaxies, where their light illuminates surrounding dust and gas  0
clouds making these areas typically appear blue. Blue stars are also
often found in complex multi-star systems, where their evolution is
much more di cult to predict due to the phenomenon of mass Oumuamua:
Asteroid, Comet
transfer between stars, as well as the possibility of di erent stars in
or Alien Probe?
the system ending their lives as supernovas at di erent times.
 February 5, 2019
 0
Blue stars are mainly characterized by the strong Helium-II
absorption lines in their spectra, and the hydrogen and neutral
helium lines in their spectra that are markedly weaker than in B-
type stars. Because blue stars are so hot and massive, they have
relatively short lives that end in violent supernova events,
ultimately resulting in the creation of either black holes or neutron
stars.

Yellow Dwarfs

S-Spectral Type: G
-Life Cycle: On the main sequence
 -Prevalence: ~10%
-Typical Temperature: ~5,200K to
~7,500K
-Typical Luminosity: ~0.6 to ~5.0
-Typical Radius: ~0.96 to ~1.4
-Typical Mass: ~0.8 to ~1.4
-Typical Age: ~4 to ~17 billion years

Examples of yellow dwarf stars

include Alpha Centauri A, Tau Ceti, 51 Pegasi.

Properties

G-type stars are often mistakenly referred to as yellow dwarf stars.

Our Sun is an example of a G-type star, but it is in fact white, since
all the colors it emits are blended together. Nonetheless, even
though all the Sun’s visible light is blended to produce white, its
visible light emission peaks in the green part of the spectrum, but
the green component is absorbed and/or scattered by other
frequencies both in the Sun itself, and in Earth’s atmosphere.

Typical G-type stars have between 0.84 and 1.15 solar masses, and
temperatures that fall into a narrow range of between 5,300K and
6,000K. Like the Sun, all G-type stars convert hydrogen into helium
in their cores, and will evolve into red giants as their supply of
hydrogen fuel is depleted.

Orange Dwarfs

Spectral Type: K
Life Cycle: On the main sequence
Prevalence: ~10%
Typical Temperature: ~3,700K to
~5,200K
Typical Luminosity: ~0.08 to ~0.6
Typical Radius: ~0.7 to ~0.96
Typical Mass: ~0.45 to ~0.8
Typical Age: ~15 to ~30 billion years

Examples of orange dwarf stars include Alpha Centauri B, Epsilon

Indi.

Properties

Orange dwarf stars are K-type stars on the main sequence that in
terms of size, fall between red M-type main-sequence stars and
yellow G-type main-sequence stars. K-type stars are of particular
interest in the search for extraterrestrial life, since they emit
markedly less UV radiation (that damages or destroys DNA) than G-
type stars on the one hand, and they remain stable on the main
sequence for up to about 30 billion years, as compared to about 10
billion years for the Sun. Moreover, K-type stars are about four
times as common as G-type stars, making the search for
exoplanets a lot easier.

Red Dwarfs

-Spectral Type: K, M
-Life Cycle: Early main sequence
-Prevalence: ~73%
-Typical Temperature: = ~4,000K
-Typical Luminosity: ~0.0001 to ~0.08
-Typical Radius: = ~0.7
-Typical Mass: ~0.08 to ~0.45
-Typical Age: Undetermined, but
expected to be several trillion years

Examples of red dwarf stars include Proxima Centauri, TRAPPIST-1.

Properties

Red dwarfs account for the bulk of the Milky Ways’ stellar
population, but since they are very faint, no red dwarf stars are
visible without optical aid. Typically, red dwarf stars that are more
massive than 0.35 solar masses are fully convective, which means
that the process of converting hydrogen into helium occurs
throughout the star, and not only in the core, as is the case with
more massive stars.

In this way, the nuclear fusion process is slowed down and at the
same time greatly prolonged, which keeps the star at a constant
luminosity and temperature for several trillion years. In fact, the
process of nuclear synthesis happens so slowly in these that the
Universe is not old enough for any known red dwarf star to have
aged into an advanced state of evolution.

Giants and Supergiants

Blue Giants

-Spectral Types: O, B, and occasionally, A-type stars

-Life Cycle: Evolved o the main sequence
-Prevalence: Rare
-Typical temperature: ~10,000K to ~33,000K+
-Typical luminosity: ~10 000
 -Typical radius: ~5 to ~10
-Typical mass: ~2 to ~150
-Typical age: ~10 to ~100 million years

Examples of blue giant stars include

Iota Orionis, LH54-425, Meissa,
Plaskett’s star, Xi Persei, Mintaka.

Properties

The term “blue giant star” has no scienti c de nition, and is

commonly applied to a wide variety of stars that have all evolved
o the main sequence. However, for practical reasons, stars with
luminosity classi cations of III and II (bright giant and giant)
respectively, are referred to as “blue giant stars” purely for
convenience, but only when that stars is hot enough to be called a
blue star, which is usually above around 10,000K. Nonetheless, the
term blue giant is often mis-applied to some stars simply because
they are big and hot.

In practice however, big stars are referred to as “blue giants” when

they inhabit a speci c region of the H-R diagram, rather than
because the star meets a speci c set of criteria.

Blue Supergiants

-Spectral Types: OB
-Life Cycle: Evolved o the main
sequence
-Prevalence: Rare
-Typical Temperature: ~10,000K to
~50,000K
-Typical Luminosity: ~10,000 to
~1,000,000
-Typical Radius: ~20+
-Typical Mass: ~20 to ~1 000
-Typical Age: = ~10 million years

Examples of blue supergiant stars include UW Canis Majoris (UW

CMa), a blue-white (O-type) supergiant; Rigel (ß Orionis), a blue-
white (B-type) supergiant; Zeta Puppis (Naos), a blue (O-type)
supergiant; 29 Canis Majoris; Alnitak; Alpha Camelopardalis;
Cygnus X-1; Tau Canis Majoris; Zeta Puppis.

Properties

Blue supergiant stars are scienti cally known as OB super giants,

and generally have luminosity classi cations of I, and spectral
classi cations of B9 or earlier. Blue super giant stars are typically
larger than the Sun, but smaller than red super giant stars, and fall
into a mass range of between 10 and 100 solar masses.

Typically, type-O and early type-B main sequence stars leave the
main sequence in only a few million years, since they burn through
their supply of hydrogen very quickly due to their high masses.
These stars start the process of expansion into the blue super giant
phase as soon as heavy elements appear on their surfaces, but in
some cases, some stars evolve directly into Wolf–Rayet stars,
skipping the “normal” blue super giant phase.

Red Giants

– Life Cycle: Late main sequence

– Spectral Type: M, K
– Prevalence: ~0.4%
– Typical Temperature: ~3 300 – ~5
300K
– Typical Luminosity: ~100 -~1000
– Typical Radius: ~20 – ~100
– Typical Mass: ~0.3 – ~10
– Typical Age: ~0.1 – ~2 billion years

Examples of red giants include Aldebaran, Arcturus, Gacrux

Properties

Red giant stars are smaller and less massive that red super giants,
generally weighing in at between 0.3 to 8 solar masses. In these
stars, of which the RBG-branch stars are the most common,
hydrogen is still being fused into helium, but in a shell around an
inert helium core. Other types of red giant stars include the red-
clump stars, in which helium is being fused into carbon, and the
asymptotic-giant-branch (AGB) stars, in which helium burning
occurs in a shell around a degenerate core of carbon and oxygen,
as well as in a shell that surrounds the inner helium-burning shell.

Red Supergiants

-Life Cycle: Evolved o the main sequence

-Spectral Type: K, M
-Prevalence: ~ 0.0001%
-Typical temperature: ~3,500 to ~4,500K
-Typical luminosity: ~1,000 to ~800,000
-Typical radius: ~100 to ~1650
-Typical mass: ~10 to ~40
 -Typical age: ~3 million to ~100 million
years

Examples of red supergiants include

Alpha Herculis (Rasalgethi), Psi1
Aurigae, 119 Tauri, Antares,
Betelgeuse, Mu Cephei, VV Cephei A.

Properties

Red supergiant stars are stars that have exhausted their supply of
hydrogen at their cores, and as a result, their outer layers expand
hugely as they evolve o the main sequence. Stars of this type are
among the biggest stars known in terms of sheer bulk, although
they are generally not among the most massive or luminous. In
rare cases, red supergiant stars are massive enough to fuse very
heavy elements (including iron) that are arranged around the core
in a way that somewhat resembles the layers of an onion, only
without sharp divisions. Red supergiants that create heavy
elements eventually explode as type-II supernovas.

Brown Dwarfs

– Spectral Type: M, L, T, Y
– Life Cycle: Non-main sequence
– Prevalence: ~1% to ~10%
– Typical temperature: ~300K to
~2,800K
– Typical luminosity: ~0.00001
– Typical radius: ~0.06 to ~0.12
– Typical mass: ~0.01 to ~0.08
– Typical age: Undetermined, but
suspected to be several trillion years

Examples of brown dwarfs include Gliese 229 B, 54 Piscium,

Luhman 16. Note that while brown dwarf stars exist in large
numbers, Luhman 16 is the closest known example, being only 6.5
light years away.

Properties

Also commonly referred to as “failed stars”, brown dwarfs are sub-

stellar objects that ll the gap between the most massive gas
planets, and the least massive true stars. Typically, brown dwarf
stars fall into the mass range of 13 to 80 Jupiter-masses, with sub-
brown dwarf stars falling below this range, and the least massive
red dwarf stars falling above it. Note though that brown dwarf
stars mostly do not emit visible light, but where they do, they can
occur in a wide range of colors. Human vision would likely perceive
most stars of this type as deep red or dark magenta.

While brown dwarf stars are not massive enough to initiate and
sustain a process of converting hydrogen into helium in their cores,
some brown dwarfs are capable of sustaining a process in which
deuterium (2H) and lithium (7Li) are converted into various
isotopes if the stars’ masses are above 13 and 65 Jupiter masses,
respectively.

Dead Stars

The following are dead stars, which no longer have fusion

processes taking place in their cores:

White Dwarfs

-Life Cycle: No longer producing

energy
-Spectral Type: D
-Prevalence: ~4%
-Typical temperature: ~8,000K to
40,000K
-Typical luminosity: ~0.0001 to ~100
-Typical radius: ~0.008 to ~0.2
-Typical mass: ~0.1 to ~1.4
-Typical Age: Largely undetermined,
but estimated to be between ~100,000 years to ~10 billion years

Examples of white dwarfs include Sirius B, Procyon B, Van Maanen

2, 40 Eridani B, Stein 2051 B.

Properties

White dwarf stars are the cores of low and intermediate mass
(typically lower than 3 solar masses) stars that have blown o their
outer layers late in their lives. These stellar remnants no longer
produce energy to counteract their mass, and are supported
against gravitational collapse by a process called electron
degeneracy pressure. While the theoretical maximum mass of a
white dwarf star cannot exceed 1.4 solar masses (Chandrasekhar
limit), this value does not include the e ects of rotation. In practice,
this means that rapidly spinning white dwarf stars can exceed the
maximum mass limit by a signi cant margin.

Some types of white dwarfs, most notably carbon-oxygen stars,

can also survive several nuclear explosions on their surfaces when
the mass of accreted material pulled from normal companion stars
exceed a critical level.

Neutron Stars

– Life Cycle: No longer producing

energy
– Spectral Type: D
– Prevalence: ~0.7%
– Typical temperature: ~ 600,000K
– Typical luminosity: Typically very
low due to their small size
– Typical radius: ~5 to ~15 km
– Typical mass: ~1.4 to ~3.2
– Typical Age: Largely
undetermined, but estimated to be between ~100,000 years to ~10
billion years

Examples of neutron stars include PSR J0108-1431 – Closest

neutron star; LGM-1 – The rst recognized radio-pulsar; PSR
B1257+12 – The rst neutron star discovered with planets; SWIFT
J1756.9-2508 – a millisecond pulsar with a stellar-type companion
with planetary range mass; PSR B1509-58 – Source of the “Hand of
God” photograph taken by the Chandra X-ray Observatory; PSR
J0348+0432 – The most massive neutron star with a well-
constrained mass of 2.01 ± 0.04 solar masses.

Properties

Neutron stars are the collapsed cores of massive stars (between

10 and 29 solar masses) that were compressed past the white
dwarf stage during a supernova event. In this state, the entire mass
of the stellar remnant consists of neutrons, particles that are
marginally more massive than protons, but carry no electrical
charge. Neutron stars are supported against their own mass by a
process called “neutron degeneracy pressure”, but the process of
gravitational collapse into a black hole may continue if the remnant
has more than 3 solar masses. However, neutron stars with very
high spin rates may be able to resist collapsing into black holes
even if they have substantially more than 3 solar masses.

Note that while Pulsars are often referred to as a class of star,

pulsars are merely energetic neutron stars that emit huge
quantities of radiation in various frequencies.

Black Dwarfs
 Black Dwarfs are hypothetical stars
that are theorised to be white dwarfs
that have radiated away all their
leftover heat and light. However,
white dwarfs live for an extremely
long period of time, with many of the
ones detected so far being in excess
of 10 billion years, meaning that no
black dwarfs have had enough time to
form in the Universe’s 13.8 billion year history. If these theoretical
stars could one day exist, however, none are expected to be found
within the remaining lifetime of the Sun. They would also be
incredibly di cult to detect due to a lack of radiation, although
they would still retain mass, with their gravitational in uence thus
providing a clue to their origins in space.

Black Holes

While smaller stars may become a

neutron star or a white dwarf after
their fuel begins to run out, larger
stars with masses more than three
times that of our sun may end their
lives in a supernova explosion. The
dead remnant left behind with no
outward pressure to oppose the force
of gravity will then continue to
collapse into a gravitational singularity and eventually become a
black hole, with the gravity of such an object so strong that not
even light can escape from it.

However, there are a variety of di erent black holes, with ‘stellar-

mass’ black holes the result of a star around 10 times heavier than
the Sun ending its life in a supernova explosion, while
‘supermassive’ black holes found at the centre of galaxies may be
millions or even billions of times more massive than the Sun. Well
known examples of black holes include Cygnus X-1, and Sagittarius
A.

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