PROPERTIES OF STARS

The Properties of Stars

We can determine an amazing number of
physical properties of stars, usually based
only on a little bit of light. Over the next
several lectures, ``we'' will talk about how
the following properties are determined for
stars.
BRIGHTNESS. 
This is not a fundamental property, but a
combination of the luminosity and distance
to a star (and in some cases also dependent
on the amount of absorption in the
direction of a star).
DISTANCE. From trigonometric and
spectroscopic parallaxes. Determining
distances to stars is how we figure out the
scale of things in the Galaxy and
is CRUCIAL to understanding stars because
we can use the inverse square law for light
dimming along with apparent brightness of
stars to figure out how much energy is
being produced and radiated away.
•LUMINOSITY. 

This is the amount of energy

generated in the star and released as
electromagnetic radiation.
•RADIUS 

 ``Size''. From Stephan's Law.

•CHEMICAL COMPOSITION. 

From the absorption line spectra. This one is tied

up in a semi-complicated way with the next one.
•TEMPERATURE. 
We have talked about Wien's Law and using
colors to derive stellar temperatures, but, there
are some complications. To REALLY get to
surface temperatures of stars, we need to learn
about and understand stellar Spectral Types
Hertzsprung-Russell
Diagram
The Hertzsprung-Russell diagram (
HR diagram) is one of the most important
tools in the study of stellar evolution.
Developed independently in the early
1900s by Ejnar Hertzsprung and Henry
Norris Russell, it plots the temperature of 
stars against their luminosity (the
theoretical HR diagram), or the colour of
stars (or spectral type) against their 
absolute magnitude (the observational
HR diagram, also known as a colour-
magnitude diagram).
Life Cycle of a Star
Stars are formed in clouds of gas and dust,
known as nebulae. Nuclear reactions at
the centre (or core) of stars provides enough
energy to make them shine brightly for many
years. The exact lifetime of a star depends very
much on its size. Very large, massive stars burn
their fuel much faster than smaller stars and
may only last a few hundred thousand years.
Smaller stars, however, will last for several
billion years, because they burn their fuel much
more slowly.
Life Cycle of a Star
Credit: NASA
Stellar Evolution - The Birth, Life,
and Death of a Star
The Milky Way Galaxy contains several
hundred billion stars of all ages, sizes
and masses. A typical star, such as the
Sun, radiates small amounts of X-rays
continuously and larger bursts of X-rays
during a solar flare.
A star collapses
when the fuel is used
up and the energy
flow from the core of
the star stops. Pressure out=Gravity in

Nuclear reactions
outside the core
cause the dying star
to expand outward in
the "red giant" phase
before it begins its
inevitable collapse
The Fate of a Star
Depends on its Mass
Stars are
formed in giant
clouds of dust
and gas, and
progress
through their
normal life

Table Illustrates the Ongoing Drama of Stellar Evolution

Types of Variable Stars:
Cepheid, Pulsating and
Cataclysmic
A variable star is,
quite simply, a
star that changes
brightness. A star
is considered
variable if its
apparent
magnitude
(brightness) is
altered in any way
from our
perspective on
Earth. These
changes can occur
over years or just
fractions of a
second, and can
range from one-
 Star
Clusters
 Star
Clusters:
When stars are born they develop from large
clouds of molecular gas. This means that they
form in groups or clusters, since molecular
clouds are composed of hundreds of solar
masses of material. After the remnant gas is
heated and blow away, the stars collect together
by gravity. During the exchange of energy
between the stars, some stars reach escape
velocity from the protocluster and become
runaway stars. The rest become gravitationally
bound, meaning they will exist as collection
orbiting each other forever.
When a cluster is young, the
brightest members are O, B and A
stars. Young clusters in our Galaxy
are called open clusters due to
their loose appearance. They
usually contain between 100 and
1,000 members.
Cluster HR Diagrams:
Since all the stars in a
cluster formed at the
same time, they are all
the same age. A very
young cluster will have
a HR diagram with a
cluster of T-Tauri stars
evolving towards the
main sequence.