Just The Facts
This measurement, contrary to the movie Star Wars, is not a measurement of time but is in fact a measure of distance and is equal to 3.26 light years.
What is a parsec?
This method of measuring stellar distance involves measuring the shift of nearby stars relative to background stars.
What is parallax?
Name the spectral types in order.
What is O B A F G K M?
This is the location on the HR Diagram where most stars can be found
What is the main sequence?
This measures the intrinsic brightness of a star, or its luminosity.
What is absolute magnitude?
This, more than any other characteristic, dictates the life of a star.
What is mass?
This value measures how bright a star appears in our sky.
What is apparent magnitude?
This spectral type represents the stars with the shortest lifespans, because these large, bright stars run out of fuel the quickest.
What are O type stars?
Every star on the main sequence is doing this.
What is fusing hydrogen into helium in their core?
The amount that light dims with distance follows this law.
What is the inverse square law of light?
This is the total amount of power a star radiates per second
What is luminosity?
A star is almost a perfect blackbody, therefore its color is a measure of this.
What is surface temperature?
Our sun is this spectral type.
What is a G2 type star?
On the x-axis of the HR Diagram, either temperature or this can be plotted.
What is spectral type?
These are the most common types of stars known, partly because they have the longest lifespan.
What is a red dwarf star?
This is how luminosity is calculated.
What is L = R squared times T to the 4th power?
Direct mass measurements are possible only for these types of star systems.
What are in binary star systems?
The ionization level of a star can be determined by looking at this in a its spectrum.
What are the pattern of absorption lines in a star's spectrum?
The mass for a star on the main sequence can be estimated from this property.
What is its luminosity?
This binary star system is found by looking at changes in a star's light curve, since the stars cannot be seen individually.
What is an eclipsing binary star?
This is the amount of starlight that reaches Earth (energy per second per square meter).
What is flux?
This type of variable star has a relationship between it's period of variability and its luminosity, allowing astronomers to determine what?
What is its distance?
This astronomer discovered spectral types fell in a more orderly appearance if rearranged by temperature as indicated by their color.
Who is Annie Jump Cannon?
Two stars of the same spectral type will have this difference in their spectra if one is a main sequence star and the other is a giant star.
What is the thickness of their absorption lines?
Strong molecular absorption lines will be found in this type of star.
What is an M type star?