Download Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram Astronomy Project Purpose: To

Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram Astronomy Project
Purpose: To research a variety of stars based on their temperature, luminosity, radius, mass,
lifetime. This data will be presented on a poster and as a visual hanging diorama for other
students in the school to see.
Directions: Select a star from either the following database, or the database of your
choosing. http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/class.html
Individual: pick any star on the database and complete the list of requirements below.
Groups of two (2): pick any one star, and one main sequence star and complete the list of
requirements below.
Groups of three (3): pick any one star, and two main sequence stars and complete the list of
requirements below.
You may do as many stars as you wish, but keep in mind of the deadline
Requirements: For each star that is chosen, the following must be completed along with it.
Example: if you work in groups of 3, then you will have three sets of data for each of the stars
you chose.
1.) Determine the stars temperature in Celsius and Kelvin
2.) With the provided formula, determine the star’s luminosity in watts compared to the
sun. Example: Betelgeuse is 38000 LSUN, and emits 1.4 x 1031 watts
3.) With the provided formula, determine the star’s radius, and find some way of
comparing it to other objects in the solar system. Example: The radius of Betelgeuse is
380,000,000 km, which could fit the entire orbit of the inner planets inside it.
Something to put it into perspective.
4.) Determine how many times more or less massive your star is compared to the Sun. You
may include actual numeric data if you chose. Example: 10M SUN means 10 times more
massive than the Sun.
5.) With the provided formula, determine the star’s lifetime based on its mass and
luminosity. You may round this number to one that can be easily read and interpreted.
Example: 2,437,405,089 or 2,440,000,000 years.
6.) Classify your star based on spectral type and luminosity class: G2V, O81, M2I, etc, and
explain what this means on your poster. Hot, cold, supergiant, main sequence, etc.
7.) Distance to star (in light years and km if listed).
8.) Create a paper mache model of each of your stars and paint it realistically based on your
stellar temperature. If it’s an M class, it has to be red, O class has to be some sort of
blue.