Explorations: Introduction to Astronomy (Arny), 6th Edition

Chapter 13: Measuring the Properties of Stars

Questions for Review

1
Describe the method of distance measurement by triangulation.
2
How do astronomers triangulate a star's distance?
3
How is the parsec defined? How big is a parsec compared with a light-year?
4
How do astronomers measure a star's temperature?
5
Why do stars have dark lines in their spectra?
6
What are the stellar spectral classes? Which are hot and which cool?
7
What distinguishes the spectral classes of stars?
8
What is a binary star?
9
How do visual and spectroscopic binaries differ?
10
Why are binary stars useful to astronomers?
11
What is an eclipsing binary? What can be learned from eclipsing binaries?
12
What is the H-R diagram? What are its axes?
13
What is the main sequence?
14
How do we know that giant stars are big and dwarfs small?
15
How does mass vary along the main sequence?
16
What is the mass-luminosity relation?
17
What is a variable star?
18
What is meant by the period of a variable star?
19
Where in the H-R diagram are variable stars found?
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