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Hypergiants
A hypergiant (luminosity class 0 or Ia+) is a very rare type of star that has an extremely high luminosity, mass, size and mass loss because of its extreme stellar winds. The term ''hypergiant'' is defined as luminosity class 0 (zero) in the MKK system. However, this is rarely seen in literature or in published spectral classifications, except for specific well-defined groups such as the yellow hypergiants, RSG (red supergiants), or blue B(e) supergiants with emission spectra. More commonly, hypergiants are classed as Ia-0 or Ia+, but red supergiants are rarely assigned these spectral classifications. Astronomers are interested in these stars because they relate to understanding stellar evolution, especially star formation, stability, and their expected demise as supernovae. Notable examples of hypergiants include the Pistol Star, a blue hypergiant located close to the Galactic Center and one of the most luminous stars known; Rho Cassiopeiae, a yellow hypergiant that is one of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yellow Hypergiant
A yellow hypergiant (YHG) is a massive star with an extended atmosphere, a spectral class from A to K, and, starting with an initial mass of about 20–60 solar masses, has lost as much as half that mass. They are amongst the most visually luminous stars, with absolute magnitude (MV) around −9, but also one of the rarest, with just 20 known in the Milky Way and six of those in just a single cluster. They are sometimes referred to as cool hypergiants in comparison with O- and B-type stars, and sometimes as warm hypergiants in comparison with red supergiants. Classification The term "hypergiant" was used as early as 1929, but not for the stars currently known as hypergiants. Hypergiants are defined by their '0' luminosity class, and are higher in luminosity than the brightest supergiants of class Ia, although they were not referred to as hypergiants until the late 1970s. Another criterion for hypergiants was also suggested in 1979 for some other highly luminous mass-losing hot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rho Cassiopeiae
Rho Cassiopeiae (; ρ Cas, ρ Cassiopeiae) is a yellow hypergiant star in the constellation Cassiopeia. It is about distant, yet can still be seen by the naked eye as it is over 300,000 times brighter than the Sun. On average it has an absolute magnitude of −9.5, making it one of the most luminous stars known in visual wavelengths. Its diameter varies between about 300 and 800 times that of the Sun, or 1.4 to 3.7 times the size of Earth's orbit. Louisa Wells discovered that the star's brightness varies, and that discovery was published in 1901. Rho Cassiopeiae is a single star, and is categorized as a semiregular variable. As a yellow hypergiant, it is one of the rarest types of stars. Only a few dozen are known in the Milky Way, but it is not the only one in its constellation which also contains V509 Cassiopeiae. Naming ρ Cassiopeiae is the Bayer designation for this star, often Latinised to Rho Cassiopeiae. It was established in 1603 as part of the '' Uran ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Most Luminous Stars
This is a list of stars arranged by their absolute magnitude – their intrinsic stellar luminosity. This cannot be observed directly, so instead must be calculated from the apparent magnitude (the brightness as seen from Earth), the distance to each star, and a correction for interstellar extinction. The entries in the list below are further corrected to provide the bolometric magnitude, i.e. integrated over all wavelengths; this relies upon measurements in multiple photometric filters and extrapolation of the stellar spectrum based on the stellar spectral type and/or effective temperature. Entries give the bolometric luminosity in multiples of the luminosity of the Sun () and the bolometric absolute magnitude. As with all magnitude systems in astronomy, the latter scale is logarithmic and inverted i.e. more negative numbers are more luminous. Most stars on this list are not bright enough to be visible to the naked eye from Earth, because of their high distances, hig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stellar Classification
In astronomy, stellar classification is the classification of stars based on their stellar spectrum, spectral characteristics. Electromagnetic radiation from the star is analyzed by splitting it with a Prism (optics), prism or diffraction grating into a spectrum exhibiting the Continuum (spectrum), rainbow of colors interspersed with spectral lines. Each line indicates a particular chemical element or molecule, with the line strength indicating the abundance of that element. The strengths of the different spectral lines vary mainly due to the temperature of the photosphere, although in some cases there are true abundance differences. The ''spectral class'' of a star is a short code primarily summarizing the ionization state, giving an objective measure of the photosphere's temperature. Most stars are currently classified under the Morgan–Keenan (MK) system using the letters ''O'', ''B'', ''A'', ''F'', ''G'', ''K'', and ''M'', a sequence from the hottest (''O'' type) to the cool ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mu Cephei
Mu Cephei ( Latinized from μ Cephei, abbreviated Mu Cep or μ Cep), also known as the Garnet Star, is a red supergiant star in the constellation Cepheus. It appears garnet red and is located at the edge of the IC 1396 nebula. It is a 4th magnitude star easily visible to the naked eye under good observing conditions. Since 1943, the spectrum of this star has served as a spectral standard by which other stars are classified. Mu Cephei is more than 100,000 times brighter than the Sun, with an absolute visual magnitude of −7.6. It is also one of the largest known stars with a radius around or over 1,000 times that of the sun (), and were it placed in the Sun's position it would engulf the orbit of Mars and Jupiter. History The deep red color of Mu Cephei was noted by William Herschel, who described it as "a very fine deep garnet colour, such as the periodical star ο Ceti". It is thus commonly known as Herschel's "Garnet Star". Mu Cephei was called ''Garnet sidus' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
P Cygni
P Cygni (34 Cygni) is a variable star in the constellation Cygnus. The designation "P" was originally assigned by Johann Bayer in '' Uranometria'' as a nova. Located about 5,300 light-years (1,560 parsecs) from Earth, it is a hypergiant luminous blue variable (LBV) star of spectral type B1-2 Ia-0ep that is one of the most luminous stars in the Milky Way. Visibility The star is located about 5,000 to 6,000 light-years (1,500–1,800 parsecs) from Earth. Despite this vast distance, it is visible to the naked eye in suitable dark sky locations. It was unknown until the end of the 16th century, when it suddenly brightened to 3rd magnitude. It was first observed on 18 August (Gregorian) 1600 by Willem Janszoon Blaeu, a Dutch astronomer, mathematician and globe-maker. Bayer's atlas of 1603 assigned it the miscellaneous label P and the name has stuck ever since. After six years the star faded slowly, dropping below naked-eye visibility in 1626. It brightened again in 1655, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
H-alpha
Hydrogen-alpha, typically shortened to H-alpha or Hα, is a deep-red visible spectral line of the hydrogen atom with a wavelength of 656.28 nm in air and 656.46 nm in vacuum. It is the first spectral line in the Balmer series and is emitted when an electron falls from a hydrogen atom's third- to second-lowest energy level. H-alpha has applications in astronomy where its emission can be observed from emission nebulae and from features in the Sun's atmosphere, including solar prominences and the chromosphere. Balmer series According to the Bohr model of the atom, electrons exist in quantized energy levels surrounding the atom's nucleus. These energy levels are described by the principal quantum number ''n'' = 1, 2, 3, ... . Electrons may only exist in these states, and may only transit between these states. The set of transitions from ''n'' ≥ 3 to ''n'' = 2 is called the Balmer series and its members are named sequentially by Greek letters: *''n'' = 3 to ''n'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Astronomy And Astrophysics Review
''The Astronomy and Astrophysics Review'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that is published quarterly by Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature. The editor-in-chief is Francesca Matteucci. The first issue was published in April 1989. Scope The journal publishes invited reviews on all areas of astronomy and astrophysics, including cosmic ray physics, studies in the Solar System, astrobiology, developments in laboratory or particle physics directly relevant to astronomy, instrumentation Instrumentation is a collective term for measuring instruments, used for indicating, measuring, and recording physical quantities. It is also a field of study about the art and science about making measurement instruments, involving the related ..., computational or statistical methods with specific astronomical applications, and other subjects relevant to astronomy and astrophysics. Abstracting and indexing This journal indexed in the following databases: References Ex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wolf–Rayet Star
Wolf–Rayet stars, often abbreviated as WR stars, are a rare heterogeneous set of stars with unusual spectroscopy, spectra showing prominent broad emission lines of ionised helium and highly ionised nitrogen or carbon. The spectra indicate very high surface enhancement of Stellar nucleosynthesis, heavy elements, depletion of hydrogen, and strong stellar winds. The Effective temperature, surface temperatures of known Wolf–Rayet stars range from 20,000 Kelvin (unit), K to around 210,000 Kelvin (unit), K, hotter than almost all other kinds of stars. They were previously called W-type stars referring to their Stellar classification, spectral classification. Classic (or population I) Wolf–Rayet stars are Stellar evolution, evolved, massive stars that have completely lost their outer hydrogen and are nuclear fusion, fusing helium or heavier elements in the core. A subset of the population I WR stars show hydrogen lines in their spectra and are known as WNh stars; the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rho Cassiopeiae Sol VY Canis Majoris - 2019-05-14
Rho (; uppercase Ρ, lowercase ρ or ; or ) is the seventeenth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 100. It is derived from Phoenician letter resh . Its uppercase form uses the same glyph, Ρ, as the distinct Latin letter P; the two letters have different Unicode encodings. Uses Greek Rho is classed as a liquid consonant (together with Lambda and sometimes the nasals Mu and Nu), which has important implications for morphology. In both Ancient and Modern Greek, it represents an alveolar trill , alveolar tap , or alveolar approximant . In polytonic orthography, a rho at the beginning of a word is almost always written ⟨⟩ (''rh'') with a rough breathing mark, indicating that it is voiceless. Very rarely, it is written ⟨⟩ (''r'') with a smooth breathing mark, indicating that it is voiced, instead. Rho is not written with breathing marks at any other place in a word, where it is always voiced, with the exception of double rho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philip Childs Keenan
Philip Childs Keenan (March 31, 1908 – April 20, 2000) was an American astronomer. Keenan was an American spectroscopist who collaborated with William Wilson Morgan and Edith Kellman (1911–2007) to develop the MKK stellar spectral classification system between 1939 and 1943. This two-dimensional classification system (temperature & luminosity) was further revised by Morgan and Keenan in 1973. The MK system remains the standard stellar spectral classification system used by astronomers today. During their long collaboration, Keenan tended to focus his research on stars cooler than the Sun, while Morgan emphasized the hotter stars. Keenan had a long and productive career, publishing his final scientific paper in 1999, seventy years after his first. Honors Named after him *Asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar Sy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
