Hertzsprung gap
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The Hertzsprung gap is a feature of the HR diagram for a star cluster. It is named after Ejnar Hertzsprung who first noticed the absence of stars in the region of the HR diagram between A5 and G0 spectral type and between +1 and -3 absolute magnitudes (i.e. between the top of the main sequence and the red giants for stars above roughly 1.5 solar mass). When a star during its evolution crosses the Hertzsprung gap, it means that it has finished core hydrogen burning but has not yet started core helium burning.
Stars do exist in the Hertzsprung Gap region, but because they move through this section of the HR diagram very quickly in comparison to the lifetime of the star (thousands of years, compared to tens of millions of years for the lifetime of the star[1]), that portion of the diagram is less densely populated. Full HR diagrams of the 11,000 Hipparcos mission targets show a handful of stars in that region.[2]
- ^ Binney, J. and Merrifield, M., "Galactic Astronomy," Table 5.2, Figure 5.2, pp. 266-271.
- ^ Binney, J. and Merrifield, M., "Galactic Astronomy," Figure 3.5, pp. 102-103, p. 265.
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