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  2. Protostar - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protostar

    HBC 1 is a young pre-main-sequence star. Regardless of the details, the outer surface of a protostar consists at least partially of shocked gas that has fallen from the inner edge of the disk. The surface is thus very different from the relatively quiescent photosphere of a pre-main sequence or main-sequence star. Within its deep interior, the ...

  3. Main sequence - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_sequence

    In astronomy, the main sequence is a classification of stars which appear on plots of stellar color versus brightness as a continuous and distinctive band. Stars on this band are known as main-sequence stars or dwarf stars, and positions of stars on and off the band are believed to indicate their physical properties, as well as their progress ...

  4. Stellar evolution - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_evolution

    Stellar evolution is the process by which a star changes over the course of time. Depending on the mass of the star, its lifetime can range from a few million years for the most massive to trillions of years for the least massive, which is considerably longer than the current age of the universe. The table shows the lifetimes of stars as a ...

  5. Stellar classification - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_classification

    In astronomy, stellar classification is the classification of stars based on their spectral characteristics. Electromagnetic radiation from the star is analyzed by splitting it with a prism or diffraction grating into a spectrum exhibiting the rainbow of colors interspersed with spectral lines. Each line indicates a particular chemical element ...

  6. Pre-main-sequence star - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-main-sequence_star

    Pre-main-sequence star. A pre-main-sequence star (also known as a PMS star and PMS object) is a star in the stage when it has not yet reached the main sequence. Earlier in its life, the object is a protostar that grows by acquiring mass from its surrounding envelope of interstellar dust and gas. After the protostar blows away this envelope, it ...

  7. Young stellar object - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_stellar_object

    A star forms by accumulation of material that falls in to a protostar from a circumstellar disk or envelope. Material in the disk is cooler than the surface of the protostar, so it radiates at longer wavelengths of light producing excess infrared emission. As material in the disk is depleted, the infrared excess decreases.

  8. Stellar nucleosynthesis - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_nucleosynthesis

    Stellar nucleosynthesis. In astrophysics, stellar nucleosynthesis is the creation of chemical elements by nuclear fusion reactions within stars. Stellar nucleosynthesis has occurred since the original creation of hydrogen, helium and lithium during the Big Bang. As a predictive theory, it yields accurate estimates of the observed abundances of ...

  9. Hertzsprung–Russell diagram - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hertzsprung–Russell_diagram

    The Sun is found on the main sequence at luminosity 1 (absolute magnitude 4.8) and B−V color index 0.66 (temperature 5780 K, spectral type G2V). The Hertzsprung–Russell diagram (abbreviated as H–R diagram , HR diagram or HRD ) is a scatter plot of stars showing the relationship between the stars' absolute magnitudes or luminosities and ...