The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram
[ 38 minutes: low-resolution 4.4 MB, high resolution 17.6 MB ]

[00:00]The Hertzsprung-Russell (H-R) Diagram
[00:01]Stellar Properties
[13:25]Icebergs
[13:44]Stellar Properties (reprise)
[16:43]Stellar Masses
[18:15]Stellar Properties (reprise)
[18:58]Stellar Radii
[23:43]Reading the H-R Diagram
[24:12]Size and the H-R Diagram
[25:10]Reading the H-R Diagram (reprise)
[28:24]Stellar Radii (reprise)
[35:14]H-R Diagrams for Stellar Clusters

Learning Objectives

  1. Understand the difference between apparent properties, which vary with distance, and intrinsic properties.

  2. Become comfortable reading and plotting the H-R Diagram.

  3. Connect the radial velocity (Doppler shift) of a star in orbit around a companion to the companion's mass.

  4. Visualize how white dwarfs cool, and so shift to lower temperatures and lower luminosities over time.

  5. Understand how telescope sensitivity means that we can detect the faintest stars only near to our solar system, while bright stars can be found out to far larger distances.

  6. Connect the fundamental properties of luminosity, temperature, and radius for stars. Become comfortable manipulating them algebraically.


Copyright © 2006–2013 Nicole P. Vogt. All rights reserved.