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Stars
Characteristics, Structure, Life Cycle
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| spectroscope | a tool used by astronomers that spreads light into different wavelengths |
| parallax | an apparent change in an object’s position when viewed from two different points |
| apparent magnitude | how bright a star appears to be from Earth |
| actual (absolute) magnitude | how bright a star actually is based on temperature and size |
| luminosity | brightness of a star |
| stars | giant balls of burning gas (mostly hydrogen and helium) held together by gravity with a very hot core where nuclear fusion occurs |
| nuclear fusion | combining of hydrogen into helium in the core of a star |
| radiative zone | zone of a star where heat radiates out from the core |
| convection zone | hot gasses move as the warm and cool, light energy emitted |
| photosphere | layer of the Sun's atmosphere visible to Earth |
| chromosphere | middle layer of the Sun's atmosphere where energy transfer occurs, appears red when visible |
| corona | outer layer of the Sun's atmosphere, visible during solar eclipses |
| Hertzsprung-Russell diagrams | graphs used to categorize stars that plot the luminosity and temperature of stars |
| sunspot | temporary spots on the Sun's surface that are darker and cooler than surrounding regions |
| solar flare | intense, sudden eruptions of electromagnetic radiation and energy from the Sun, lasting minutes to hours, often occurring near sunspots |
| prominence | large, bright eruption of plasma from the Sun's surface extending in a loop shape |
| coronal mass ejection | massive, fast-moving clouds of plasma and magnetic fields released from the Sun, often following solar flares |
| solar wind | a continuous stream of plasma from the Sun's corona causing geomagnetic storms and auroras |
| main sequence stars | most common type of star in the longest phase of their life, nuclear fusion occurs during this phase |
| nebular | a hazy, large, dense cloud of gas and dust |
| protostar | a very young, developing star formed when gravity collapses forming a flattened spinning disk of material around a dense core |
| red giant | a medium sized, dying star that expands outwards |
| red supergiant | massive, dying stars that have expanded outwards |
| white dwarf | very dense, faint, hot leftover of a low to medium mass star at the final stage of their lifecycle |
| supernova | a massive, bright and colorful explosion of a high mass star |
| neutron star | the gravitationally collapsed core of a massive supergiant star after a supernova explosion |
| black hole | an incredibly compact, dense body that not even light can escape from, formed from the collapse of the most massive stars |
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