B-type starastronomy

Main

Aspects of this topic are discussed in the following places at Britannica.

Assorted References

  • Harvard classification system ( in stellar classification )

    ...stars with surface temperatures typically of 25,000–50,000 K (although a few O-type stars with vastly greater temperatures have been described); lines of ionized helium appear in the spectra. Class B stars typically range from 10,000 K to 25,000 K and are also bluish white but show neutral helium lines. The surface temperatures of A-type stars range from 7,400 K to about 10,000 K; lines...

  • Population I objects ( in Populations I and II )

    ...I consists of younger stars, clusters, and associations—i.e., those that formed about 1,000,000 to 100,000,000 years ago. Certain stars, such as the very hot, blue-white O and B types (some of which are less than 1,000,000 years old), are designated as extreme Population I objects. All known Population I members occur near and in the arms of the Milky Way system and other...

  • properties ( in star: Classification of spectral types )

    The hot B-type stars, such as Epsilon Orionis, are characterized by lines of helium and of singly ionized oxygen, nitrogen, and neon. In very hot O-type stars, lines of ionized helium appear. Other prominent features include lines of doubly ionized nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon and of trebly ionized silicon, all of which require more energy to produce.

  • relation to reflection nebula ( in nebula: Reflection nebulae )

    ...the absorption lines of the nearby stars, whereas bright nebulae that emit their own light show characteristic emission lines quite unlike stars. The brightest reflection nebulae are illuminated by B-type stars that are very luminous but have temperatures lower than about 25,000 K, somewhat cooler than the O-type stars that would ionize the hydrogen in the gas and produce a diffuse emission...

  • stellar associations ( in Milky Way Galaxy: Stellar associations )

    ...fact that their constituent stars are very much brighter than the stars constituting globular clusters. The most luminous stars in stellar associations are very young stars of spectral types O and B. They have absolute luminosities as bright as any star in the Galaxy—on the order of one million times the luminosity of the Sun. Such stars have very short lifetimes, only lasting a few...

Citations

MLA Style:

"B-type star." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 03 Dec. 2008 <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/47181/B-type-star>.

APA Style:

B-type star. (2008). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved December 03, 2008, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/47181/B-type-star

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Link to this article and share the full text with the readers of your Web site or blog-post.

If you think a reference to this article on "B-type star" will enhance your Web site, blog-post, or any other web-content, then feel free to link to this article, and your readers will gain full access to the full article, even if they do not subscribe to our service.

You may want to use the HTML code fragment provided below.

copy link

We welcome your comments. Any revisions or updates suggested for this article will be reviewed by our editorial staff. Contact us here.

Regular users of Britannica may notice that this comments feature is less robust than in the past. This is only temporary, while we make the transition to a dramatically new and richer site. The functionality of the system will be restored soon.

A-Z Browse

Image preview