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Basics of the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram
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Main Sequence
A continuous and distinctive band of stars that appears on plots of stellar color versus brightness. These stars are in a stable phase of hydrogen burning.
Red Giant
A large star with a cool surface located on the upper-right part of the H-R diagram. These are stars in a later stage of evolution where hydrogen fusion occurs in a shell around the core.
Turnoff Point
The point on the H-R diagram where stars begin to leave the main sequence and start to become red giants or other evolved types.
Instability Strip
A region on the H-R diagram where many variable stars are found. This includes pulsating variables like Cepheids, which vary in brightness and temperature.
White Dwarf
A small, hot, and dense star in the lower-left of the H-R diagram. This is the final evolutionary stage of stars with masses similar to the sun, where no fusion is occurring.
Protostar
The stage of stellar evolution preceding the main sequence. In the H-R diagram, these forming stars fall on a path known as the Hayashi track, from the main sequence's right edge downward.
Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB)
A region of the H-R diagram above the main sequence and red giant branch, associated with cool, luminous stars that have begun to fuse helium in a shell surrounding a core of carbon and oxygen.
Zero Age Main Sequence (ZAMS)
The line in the H-R diagram where stars begin stable hydrogen fusion in their cores. This is the stage where a star enters the main sequence.
Supergiant
Extremely luminous stars with different temperature ranges represented in the upper part of the H-R diagram. They are massive stars in the late stage of stellar evolution.
Horizontal Branch
An area of the H-R diagram where post-main sequence stars burn helium in their cores and hydrogen in a shell surrounding the core. These stars have roughly the same luminosity, varying more in temperature.
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