Hey guys! The question is so: How could i determinate the age, temperature, distance, speed, acceleration and some other stars proprietes? I mean, how is called the proces, the method, or where I could find more about this! Thanks! See you!
Answers (1)
Okay so I don't know if this will be helpful or not but here it is. We cannot yet tell the age of an individual star. We can tell if it is older or younger sometimes but not always.After anywhere from thousands to millions of years stars reach the adult phase of their life which we call the main sequence phase. The length of time a star spends in the main sequence phase depends on its mass.
The only real means we have to determine a stars age is through the study of star clusters. In our galaxy (The Milk Way) there are two basic types of star cluster. Clusters of the first type are called globular clusters because they appear as huge, round globs containing anywhere from a few thousand to a few million stars. Globular clusters are very old, and they are scattered around (not just within) the Milky Way; these clusters seem to have originated near the time our galaxy started to form, when the universe was quite young. Clusters of the second type used to be called 'galactic clusters' because we see them inside the body of our galaxy, but now it is more common to refer to them as 'open clusters' because they are much looser and their stars more spread out on the sky than are those in globular clusters. Open clusters can contain anywhere from a few dozen to a few thousand stars, and they come in a wide range of ages. Apparently our galaxy started making open clusters soon after it settled down to its present size and continues making them even today. Now on to the distance and speed of a star.
A candle viewed from 10 feet is a lot brighter than when viewed from 50 feet, 100 feet or 1000 feet, if it is visible at all. Knowing how bright a candle is at source, how much light it gives out, and then measuring its apparent brightness from an unknown distance allows its distance to be calculated. Unfortunately different candles, and similarly different stars, burn hotter and/or brighter and there is no standard from which to make the calculation. However collecting the light from a star and analysing its chemical composition and makeup using a spectrometer gives much of the information required. This is easily demonstrated just looking at different flames found on Earth, such as candle flames, bunsen burners and acetylene torches. Yellow flames are relatively cool, blue flames much hotter and white very hot. Other calculations can give its mass and hence size. Another parameter used is its "Red shift".
Light, just like sound, the Doppler effect, changes frequency if the source is moving. With sound it is why a police siren changes note as it passes you by. Coming towards you the speed of the car is added to the speed of sound, having passed it is subtracted. With light there is a color shift and the light appears to have more red in it. The faster it is moving away then the redder it will appear. It is known that stars and galaxies that are moving away at greater speeds are also more distant. scientists can tell a lot about the chemical make-up of a star, simply by analysing its light. The technique is called spectroscopy and from it we can accurately gauge what elements a particular star contains, even if it is on other side of the universe. So long as we have the light, we can measure it. Distance and speed are much harder to determine, although far from impossible. For relatively nearby stars, a technique called "parallax" is used and further away stars and galaxies require the use of "Standard candles" You can determine the temperature of a star by its color and spectrum. Stars have different colors. For instance, the star Betelgeuse in Orion's shoulder is redder than most stars. The reason for the different colors is that the light is (approximately) blackbody radiation, which is not sensitive to the details of the star's composition but is sensitive to the temperature of the star. Another way to measure the surface temperature is to examine in detail the spectral lines in the starlight. These details show something about composition, but they also show something about temperature. Consider the imaginary element Oregonium, which is found in the photosphere of all imaginary stars. We look for absorption lines from Oregonium. If it is too hot, atoms of Oregonium will be partially ionized. Oregonium ions have different energy levels from neutral Oregonium atoms. In the hot star, there are no neutral Oregonium atoms, so there are no absorption lines corresponding to neutral Oregonium.
If the star is too cool, then all the Oregonium atoms are in their ground states. There are absorption lines corresponding to jumps from the ground state to higher energy states. But there are no lines corresponding to jumps from one higher energy state to another.
Astronomers commonly refer to stars by their spectral type -
O 28,000 K - 50,000 K.
B 10,000 K - 28,000 K.
A 7,500 K - 10,000 K.
F 6,000 K - 7,500 K.
G 5,000 K - 6,000 K.
K 3,500 K - 5,000 K.
M 2,500 K - 3,500 K.
Sorry this is probably a really long answer (much longer than you probably wanted) but I hope I helped!
Hopefully I helped you at least some!
If there is anything you want to know just let me know!
Thanks! I mean I have to do a project, a big one, about Spectral Star Analysis, in my language (romanian) it spund so... Analiza Spectrala a Steleleor. I guess you guys can use a translator to understand better. Anyway, Thanks a Lot!