Characteristic of Stars

Constellation an imaginary pattern of stars in the sky.

Astronomers classify stars according to their physical characteristics:

Color
Temperature
Size
Composition
Brightness
Color and temperature:
Cooler stars (3,200oC) appear reddish - Betelguese
Medium stars (5,500oC) appear yellow our sun
Hottest stars (over 20,000oC) are blue Rigel
(see picture below: Blue stars hottest , Red stars coolest)

Size:
Small stars are called white dwarfs
Large stars are called red giant or supergiant

Brightness:
The brightness of a star depends on its size and temperature.
Apparent brightness the brightness of a star as seen from Earth.
Absolute brightness - an astronomer must find out both the stars apparent brightnes
and its distance from Earth.

Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram (H-R diagram) a graph that relates the surface temperatures and
absolute brightness of stars.

Parallax the apparent change in position of an object when seen from different places.
<--------- (parallax)
Measuring Distances to Stars:
Light year the distance that light travels in one year, about 9.5 million million
kilometers
Astronomers use a light-year to measure distances between stars
Light travels at a speed of about 300,000km/second