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The color of stars depends on their surface temperature and size. Furthermore, this color does not always remain the same but can change over time.
What Color Are Stars? All the Info
One of the reasons the starry sky is so beautiful is that every star is different—and so is its color, which ranges from white and yellow to red and even blue.
- This is due to the different surface temperatures of the individual celestial bodies. Very hot stars tend to appear blue, while cooler stars tend to appear red.
- Stars are classified into various spectral classes. These range from O—the hottest, blue stars with temperatures up to 30,000 degrees—through B, A, F, G, K, M, and L, all the way to T. M, L, and T stars, with temperatures starting at 1,000 Kelvin, are relatively cool and appear red.
- In the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, luminosity is plotted against spectral type. This relationship is used to draw conclusions about the star’s evolutionary stage.
- Some stars change their color—and thus their size and temperature—over time, causing them to move within the diagram.
