Ten years ago more knowledge had been gained of the densities of
stars. It seemed likely that density would be a more direct criterion
of evolutionary development than temperature. Granted that a star
condenses out of nebulous material, it must in the youngest stage be
very diffuse; from that stage it will contract and steadily increase in
density.
But this necessitates an entire rearrangement of the scheme of
evolution, because the order according to density is by no means the
same as the order according to surface temperature. On the former
view all the cool red stars were old and dying. But a large number of
them are now found to be extremely diffuse--stars like Betelgeuse,
for instance. These must be set down as the very youngest of the
stars; after all it is not unnatural that a star just beginning to
condense out of nebulous material should start at the lowest stage of
temperature. Not all the red stars are diffuse; there are many like
Krueger 60 which have high density, and these we leave undisturbed
as representing the last stage of evolution. Both the first and last
periods of a star’s life are characterized by low temperature; in
between whiles the temperature must have risen to a maximum and fallen
again.
The ‘giant and dwarf theory’ proposed by Hertzsprung and Russell
brought these conclusions into excellent order. It recognized a series
of _giant_ stars, comparatively diffuse stars with temperature
rising, and a series of _dwarf_ or dense stars with temperature
falling. The two series merged at the highest temperatures. An
individual star during its lifetime went up the giant series to its
highest temperature and then down the dwarf series. The brightness
remained fairly steady throughout the giant stage because the
continually increasing temperature counterbalanced the reduction of
the surface area of the star; in the dwarf stage the decreasing
temperature and the contraction of the surface caused a rapid decrease
of brightness as the star progressed down the series. This was in
accordance with observation. The theory has dominated most recent
astrophysical research and has been instrumental in bringing to light
many important facts. One example must suffice. Although we may have a
giant and a dwarf star with the same surface temperature, and therefore
showing very similar spectra, nevertheless a close examination of the
spectrum reveals tell-tale differences; and it is now quite easy to
ascertain from the spectrum whether the star is a diffuse giant or a
dense dwarf.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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