How many types of stars do we know and what is the Sun?

Stars can be classified into different types based on their characteristics. One way to classify stars is based on their brightness, which is often measured using the Greek alphabet. Astronomers assign Greek letters to the stars in each constellation based on their level of brightness. For example, Sirius A is the second brightest star visible from Earth.

However, not all stars are visible to the naked eye. Astronomers also use catalogs to identify and classify stars that are not visible without telescopes. These catalogs often assign numbers to stars based on their position in the sky.

The closest stars to Earth are in the Alpha Centauri triple star system, which is about 4.37 light-years away. Proxima Centauri, one of the stars in the system, is approximately 4.24 light-years away. A light year is a unit of distance equal to about 9.46 trillion kilometers, which highlights the vastness of space.

To understand the classification of stars, it is important to be familiar with the concept of a main sequence star. Main sequence stars are in a stable phase of their life cycle and represent the most common type of star in the universe, accounting for around 90% of all stars.

When a star begins to fuse hydrogen in its core, it is considered to have entered the main sequence. This phase is often known as the "maturity" of the star and is its longest-lived stage. The Sun, for example, is currently in the middle of its main sequence phase and is expected to become a red giant in about 5 billion years.

Types of Stars

Stars in the universe exhibit a wide range of characteristics, including variations in brightness, size, color, and behavior. Certain types of stars undergo rapid transformations, going from one type to another in a short period of time.

On the other hand, there are stars that remain relatively unchanged for incredibly long periods, spanning trillions of years. This diversity among stars adds to the rich complexity and fascinating nature of the universe.

Main Sequence Stars

A typical star originates from a dense accumulation of dust and gas within a stellar nursery. Over hundreds of thousands of years, this accumulation of matter gradually grows in mass, begins to rotate, and becomes hotter. Once the core of the cluster reaches temperatures of millions of degrees, nuclear fusion begins.

This fusion process involves the fusion of two hydrogen nuclei (protons) to form a single helium nucleus, releasing enormous amounts of energy. This energy heats the star, generating a pressure that counteracts the inward pull of gravity. This is how a star is born.

Stars in the main sequence phase are characterized by the fusion of hydrogen into helium in their cores. Main sequence stars make up about 90% of the universe's stellar population. They exhibit a wide range of luminosities, colors, and sizes, with masses ranging from one-tenth to 200 times that of the Sun. These stars have lifetimes ranging from millions to billions of years, depending on their mass.

Red giants

When a main sequence star, with a mass less than eight times that of the Sun, exhausts its hydrogen fuel in the core, it begins a process of collapse. The star's energy, generated by the fusion, acts as the counterforce to gravity, pulling matter inward. As this source of energy decreases, the star contracts and its temperature and pressure increase. During this phase, the star acquires an orange hue, turning from red.

As the star's core becomes unstable, it begins to pulsate, periodically expanding and ejecting some of its outer layers. Eventually, all of the star's outer layers break off, creating an expanding cloud of dust and gas known as a planetary nebula.

White dwarfs

After a red giant star expels its outer atmosphere, what is left is the core, which transforms into a white dwarf. These white dwarfs are typically the size of Earth but significantly more massive, weighing hundreds of thousands of times more than our planet. In fact, even a teaspoon of white dwarf material would be heavier than a pickup truck, as NASA illustrates.

White dwarfs do not generate new heat internally, and instead gradually cool over time. The color of its light can vary from bluish-white to red. Scientists estimate that our Sun will go through this transformation and become a white dwarf in approximately 10 billion years.

Neutron Stars

These are stellar remnants that accumulate more mass than the Sun in a sphere as wide as the island of Manhattan in New York and are formed when a main sequence star with between eight and 20 times the mass of the Sun runs out of hydrogen in its core. The end result is a huge explosion called a supernova. 

Red dwarfs

These are the smallest main sequence stars, they are also more orange than red. Those with only a third of the mass of the Sun are currently estimated to have lifetimes longer than the current age of the universe, up to about 14 trillion years. Furthermore, they are born in much larger numbers than the most massive stars.

Brown Dwarfs

They are more massive than planets but not as massive as stars. They emit almost no visible light, although they do emit infrared. Some of them form in the same way as main sequence stars, from clumps of gas and dust in nebulae, but never gain enough mass, others may form as planets.

Keep Reading

• Clean energy manufacturing market to reach $790B by 2030: IEA
• How Everest is turning into a garbage filled tourist destination?
• 218 million people face threat of floods due to alarming levels of plastic pollution

Follow Ground Report for Climate Change and Under-Reported issues in India. Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Koo App, Instagram, Whatsapp and YouTube. Write us on GReport2018@gmail.com.