[Q] Colors of stars

[Moontanman]

Do stars occur in all colors or are there limits to what color a star can be? I know thre are red stars and blue stars but are there green stars? Purple stars, violet stars, orange stars? Do stars occur in all the colors of the rainbow?

[Janus]

The range of colors for stars is determined by temperature and goes from cooler to hotter as thus:

 

M class: red

K class : red to orange

G class: yellow to white

F class: white to blue

A, B and O classes: Blue

[freeztar]

The range of colors for stars is determined by temperature and goes from cooler to hotter as thus:

 

M class: red

K class : red to orange

G class: yellow to white

F class: white to blue

A, B and O classes: Blue

 

As a follow up question, why are there no green stars?

[Moontanman]

As a follow up question, why are there no green stars?

 

And why no purple/violet stars? A star the color of a black light bulb?

[freeztar]

And why no purple/violet stars? A star the color of a black light bulb?

 

Well, there is ultra violet. :naughty:

 

The reason I chose green and not violet is because of the spectrum. Good ol' Roy G. Biv!

 

We have:

red=yes

orange=yes

yellow=yes

green=no

blue=yes

indigo=no

violet=no

 

Why is green a no when it is sandwiched in between frequencies that are yes?

[Janus]

Well, there is ultra violet. :)

 

The reason I chose green and not violet is because of the spectrum. Good ol' Roy G. Biv!

 

We have:

red=yes

orange=yes

yellow=yes

green=no

blue=yes

indigo=no

violet=no

 

Why is green a no when it is sandwiched in between frequencies that are yes?

 

Because stars emit light over a broad spectrum of light. When the center of the emission is in the green section, the width of the spectrum extends over the entire visible range, and a mixture of all the visible range gives you white. Thus you get, red, orange, yellow, white & blue.

[Moontanman]

So stars can radiate toward the red or toward the blue but not concentrate in the middle or at the violet end? Too bad a violet or green star would be cool.

[DougF]

What a very good question Moontanman, I never really thought about it before but the night sky would look very cool with some greens and violets in it.