In the nineteenth century, astronomers recognized
\n\t\t\t\tthat stars could be classified by their spectra into a handful
\n\t\t\t\tof types.\u00a0 Over time, this system was refined to characterize
\n\t\t\t\ta star in terms of prototypical stars with similar spectra.
\n\t\t\t\tThis is the meaning of the jargon that the Sun is a G2 V
\n\t\t\t\tstar: the G2 refers to the pattern of lines in the Sun's
\n\t\t\t\tspectrum, which is directly dependent on temperature, and
\n\t\t\t\tthe V refers to the widths of these lines, which are
\n\t\t\t\tdependent on luminosity.\u00a0 The advantage of this system
\n\t\t\t\tis that astronomers can determine what stars are like the
\n\t\t\t\tSun in temperature and luminosity simply by looking at
\n\t\t\t\tthe patterns of lines in the stars' spectra.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the nineteenth century, astronomers recognized that stars could be classified by their spectra into a handful of types.\u00a0 Over time, this system was refined to characterize a star in terms of prototypical stars with similar spectra. This is the … Continue reading