Energy output from the surface of a star per second; measured in watts.
Process in which heavy atomic nuclei split into smaller, lighter atomic nuclei.
Apparent positional shift of an object caused by the motion of the observer.
Brightness an object would have if it were placed at a distance of 10 pc; classification system for stellar brightness that can be calculated only when the actual distance to a star is known.
Layer of the Sun’s atmosphere above the photosphere and below the corona that is about 2500 km thick and has a temperature around 30,000 K at its top.
Graph that relates stellar characteristics - class, mass, temperature, magnitude, diameter, and luminosity.
A spinning neutron star that exhibits a pulsing pattern.
Arc of gas ejected from the chromosphere, or gas that condenses in the Sun’s inner corona and rains back to the surface, that can reach temperatures over 50,000 K and is associated with sunspots.
Small, extremely dense remnant of a star whose gravity is so immense that not even light can escape its gravity field.
The combining of lightweight nuclei into heavier nuclei; occurs in the core of the Sun where temperatures and pressure are extremely high.
Large cloud of interstellar gas and dust that collapses on itself, due to its own gravity, and forms a hot, condensed object that will become a new star.
Collapsed, dense core of a star that forms quickly while its outer layers are falling inward, has a radius of about 10 km, a mass 1.5 to 3 times that of the Sun, and contains mostly neutrons.