Stellar classification

cataloging of stars. The majority of the work had been done by a succession of underpaid and predominantly anonymous women known as “computers” or “Pickering’s Harem”. These included women such as Annie Jump Cannon, who did the crucial work in stellar classification, and Henrietta Swann Leavitt, who uncovered the correlation between the brightness of stars and their period of observation. In her papers and her thesis, Cecilia wrote about how elements in stars remained relatively the same, with some variation

spectrum, or spectral lines, are associated with known elements. In 1868, an unknown element was discovered and given the name helium. It was almost thirty years before the element would be detected on Earth (McMillan, 2011). The accepted classification scheme is a combination of two, the Harvard system types stars based on

organization. Stars are not all the same, they vary in size, temperature, and brightness. To keep track of all these different characteristics, astronomers had to come up with a diagram. The Hertzsprung-Russell diagram is one of the most useful plots for stellar astronomy (Classifying Stars). The diagram

I have chosen the Orion constellation, or the hunter constellation as some call it. I chose this constellation because it is a beautiful constellation. Orion is the brightest and most beautiful of the winter constellations. Some of its stars, including Betelgeuse and Rigel, are among the brightest stars. While it was named after the hunter in Greek mythology it is definitely not stealthy. Orion is one of the most prominent and recognizable constellations in the sky and can be seen throughout the

1. The brightness a star would have if it were at 10 pc from Earth is called its: A. Absolute Magnitude. a. Absolute magnitude b. Apparent magnitude c. Spectral type d. Center of mass e. Luminosity 2. A star with which of the following apparent magnitudes appears brightest from Earth? E. -1. 5 a. 6.8 b. 3.2 c. 0.41 d. -0.44 e. -1.5 3. What does a stars luminosity measure? A stars luminosity is measured by the apparent magnitude and absolute magnitude of the star and the amount of the light that

become unstable, and can even collapse under their own gravity resulting in them breaking up into much smaller pieces of their original forms. Evidence suggests that this process is triggered as the result of an external event - a shock wave of nearby stellar explosions [supernova] or, perhaps, the pressure wave ripple of another cloud as it forms a star and ionises its own surroundings. An additional theory suggests that a magnetic field is responsible for the cloud retaining its form and then fading

For my essay on my favorite constellation I have chosen Canis Major, The Great Dog. I have chosen Canis Major because of how he and Canis Minor are often depicted as following the constellation of Orion the hunter through the sky. I have also chosen Canis Major because it contains Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, also known as "The Dog Star". Canis Major is located in the Southern Hemisphere with Monoceros to the north, Puppis to the east/southeast, Columba to the southwest, and Lepus to the

White dwarfs are the remnants of stars similar to the Sun after the exhaustion of nuclear fuel. When the nuclear burning nears exhaustion, the star expels majority of its outer layers, creating a planetary nebula. The remaining core could have temperatures of more than 100,000K. Some white dwarfs gather matter from nearby stars via accretion while most others cool down over a timespan of billions of years. Soft X-ray as well as extreme UV observations are a key tools in determining the composition

The magnitude of a star is simply how bright the star is. The brightest stars were of first magnitude, however, the dullest were of sixth magnitude. The simple scale of magnitude was made popular by Ptolemy, but is thought to have started with Hipparchus. The scale is sometimes considered confusing since the brighter the star is, the smaller the magnitude it has. In 1856, Norman Robert Pogson determined the system of magnitude by specifying a first magnitude star as a star that is 100 times as bright

Canis Major is my favorite constellation, I don't have a particular reason for this constellation to be my favorite, I just really like it. Canis Major, or The Greater Dog, is fairly easy to pick out in the night sky during the winter. It is made up of eight main stars, the brightest one being Sirius. Sirius also happens to be the closest star to Earth, in Canis Major. Canis Major is said to be the dog Laelaps, who was so fast that nothing it chased could outrun it. Laelaps had a whole bunch of