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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.
Many star names are, in origin, descriptive of the part in the constellation they are found in; thus Phecda, a corruption of Arabic فخذ الدب ( fakhdh ad-dubb, 'thigh of the bear'). Only a handful of the brightest stars have individual proper names not depending on their asterism; so Sirius ('the scorcher'), Antares ('rival of Ares ', i.e ...
A star-forming region in the Large Magellanic Cloud. A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by self-gravity. [ 1] The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night; their immense distances from Earth make them appear as fixed points of light.
List of nearest stars (up to 20 light-years); List of star systems within 20–25 light-years; List of star systems within 25–30 light-years; List of star systems within 30–35 light-years
The Sun is the brightest star as viewed from Earth, at −26.78 mag. The second brightest is Sirius at −1.46 mag. For comparison, the brightest non-stellar objects in the Solar System have maximum brightnesses of: the Moon −12.7 mag [ 1] Venus −4.92 mag. Jupiter −2.94 mag. Mars −2.94 mag.
In practice, names are only universally used for the very brightest stars ( Sirius, Arcturus, Vega, etc.) and for a small number of slightly less bright but "interesting" stars ( Algol, Polaris, Mira, etc.). For other naked eye stars, the Bayer or Flamsteed designation is often preferred. In addition to the traditional names, a small number of ...
The main sequence is visible as a prominent diagonal band from upper left to lower right. This plot shows 22,000 stars from the Hipparcos Catalog together with 1,000 low-luminosity stars (red and white dwarfs) from the Gliese Catalogue of Nearby Stars. In astronomy, the main sequence is a classification of stars which appear on plots of stellar ...
The only star that does not belong to a constellation is the Sun. The Sun travels through the 13 constellations along the ecliptic, the 12 of the Zodiac and Ophiuchus . Among the remaining stars, the nearer ones exhibit proper motion , so it is only a matter of time before some of them cross a constellation boundary and switch constellations as ...