Astro Minute

What happens to a star in its "main sequence"? Learn more on today's episode of Astro Minute!

What is Astro Minute?

Welcome to the Astro Minute! I'm Lauren Smyth, and with the help of astronomer and teacher Kelli Smyth, I'll be your tour guide as we explore the secrets of the night sky sixty seconds at a time.

Welcome to the Astro Minute, where we’re exploring the universe sixty seconds at a time. I’m Lauren Smyth, and today we’re looking at middle-aged stars.

After hydrogen fusion begins in the core of a protostar and a new star is born, it enters a long stable stage of life where its outward-pushing gas and radiation pressure balances its inward-pulling gravity. This stage is called the main sequence.

Without optical aid, only a few medium-mass main sequence stars, including our sun, can be seen. Most naked eye main sequence stars are high-mass stars: they burn the brightest, and the fastest, having shorter lifespans and more violent endings than smaller stars.

Look for these bright high-mass main sequence stars: Rigel in Orion, Vega and Altair in the Summer Triangle, and the bright stars in the Pleiades.

I’m Lauren Smyth, and that’s your AstroMinute.