Types of Stars

In General > s.a. neutron stars.
* Population I: In the galactic disk, many heavy elements.
* Population II: In the nucleus and halo, spherically distributed, few heavy elements.
* Population III: Primordial, almost no heavy elements; Probably dominated by very massive stars, because collapsing clouds with no heavy elements would not undergo fragmentation; 2007, No confirmed population III star known; The ones that are near enough to be seen may all.exploded long ago; Can look for them (statistically) using the cosmic IR background.
@ Individual stars: Wielen et al ap/00/A&A [Polaris]; Kaler 02 [100 most interesting, r pw(02)oct]; Richichi & Roccatagliata ap/05/A&A [Aldebaran].
@ The first stars: Larson ap/99-in; Larson & Bromm SA(01)dec; Beers Nat(03)ap; Bromm & Larson ARAA(04)ap/03; Scannapieco et al ap/05-in [detection]; Naoz et al MNRAS(06)ap; Silk & Langer MNRAS(06)ap [usual mass range]; Tornatore et al a0707-MNRAS [fate of population III stars]; news pw(07)dec ["dark stars"]; Johnson et al a0802-in; Trenti et al ApJ-a0807; > s.a. early universe.
@ Other topics: Máiz et al ap/06/ApJ [upper limit on mass]; > s.a. stars.

By Luminosity and Temperature > s.a. star properties.
* Idea: One classifies stars by their position in the HR diagram, in terms of L and T; The combination of these properties is related to their mass and age.
* White dwarves: Low-M stars in late evolutionary stages, sustained by e degeneracy; > s.a. Chandrasekhar Limit; dark matter types.
@ White dwarves: Isern et al JPCM(98); Kawaler & Dahlstrom AS(00); Hansen PRP(04).
@ Strange stars: Madsen PRL(98); Chakrabarty pw(00)feb [candidate]; Dey et al ap/00; Bombaci & Datta ApJL(00)ap [and GRB's]; Bombaci ap/00-in; Bombaci et al ApJ(00)ap; Xu ap/02-in [rev]; news sr(06)dec.
@ Other: Leggett et al ap/04-in [beyond M].

Binary Stars > s.a. astronomy [X-ray]; neutron stars [pulsars].
* Visual: P 70 yr, 0.5, sp class F5–G0.
* Spectroscopic: P around 9d.
* Eclipsing: P 2–3 d, 0, sp class B–A.
@ General references: Terrell et al 92 [pictorial atlas]; Verbunt ap/04-in [and interferometry]; Lada ApJL(06)ap [binary/single rate].
@ Compact binaries: Nelemans PT(06)jul; Postnov & Yungelson LRR(06) [evolution].

Variable Stars > s.a. astrophysics [star formation and evolution].
* Cepheids: Variable stars, with useful period-luminosity relationship.
* P Cygni Stars: Erratic stars, which emit mildly gas shells.
* RR Lyrae: Old, variable stars, distributed in the nucleus and in the halo.
* Wolf-Rayet: Erratic stars with strong He, He⁺ and N⁺⁺ emission lines, from envelopes of ejected matter.
@ General references: Hoffmeister et al 85 [text].
@ Cepheids: Buchler ap/97-in [rev]; Tanvir ap/98-in [as candles]; Lanoix et al MNRAS(99)ap [calibration]; Ngeow et al MNRAS(05)ap [non-linearity of P-L relation]; Macri ap/05-in [in Milky Way, Magellanic Clouds]; Storm ap/05-in [and RR Lyrae, as distance indicators]; Vilardell et al a0707-A&A [in M31]; Kovacs a0802-in [metallicity].

Supernovae > s.a. gamma-ray astronomy; neutron stars [including pulsars].
* Type I: From binary systems; they all release nearly equal amounts of energy, standard candles.
* Type II: Massive, rapidly evolving; Shock wave from core collapse; Usually in spiral arms.
* Consequences: They are important enriching events for the interstellar medium.
* Conditions: Their occurrence is favored in stars with high heavy element content, which are opaque to radiation.
* History: Last one to have an effect on Earth, a few Myr ago, 90–180 ly away [from ⁶⁰Fe, @ Knie et al PRL(99)]; One recorded in our galaxy in 1054 [@ Collins et al PASP(99)ap]; First one actually seen exploding in 1983 [@ Niemela et al AJ(85)]; first one close by 23.02.1987, in LMC [SN 1987A; @ NS(90)feb24, p30-31]; 1998, Most distant one seen at z = 0.97.
@ General references: Trimble RMP(82), RMP(83), RMP(88); Woosley & Weaver SA(89)aug; Bethe PT(90)sep; Panagia ap/00-in; Wheeler AJP(03) [resource letter], ap/04-in [3D]; Nadyozhin & Imshennik ap/05-in [rev]; Suresh & Kumar SciRep(05)ap [rev]; Turatto et al a0706 [classes and subclasses]; Nadyozhin a0804-in.
@ Related topics: Yungelson & Livio ApJ(00)ap/99 [cosmological constant and acceleration]; Blair ap/04-in [Kepler's 1604 supernova]; Filippenko ap/04-in, Miquel ap/07-in [and cosmology]; Hillebrandt et al SA(06)oct [models]; Miknaitis et al ap/07 [ESSENCE survey]; Thomas et al a0705 [superluminous, and eta Car]; > s.a. black hole phenomenology, cosmological acceleration, galaxies [velocity field].

Other Types and Substellar Objects > s.a. Brown Dwarves; matter [mirror stars]; objects [boson, quark stars]; Q-Stars; solitons.
@ Novae: Yang et al A&A(05)ap [Korean records].

Main page – Abbreviations – Journals – Comments – Other sites – Acknowledgements
Send feedback and suggestions to bombelli at olemiss.edu – Modified 22 jul 2008