Stellar Clusters on the H-R Diagram (Cont.)
|
Cluster after 10 Billion years. If the Sun were in this cluster, it would now have run out of fuel and begin to leave the main sequence.. If it hasn't already, life as we know it on earth has come to an end. Stars at the bottom of the main sequence, those with a fraction of the mass of the Sun, will live on and on and on and on and on and on and on..... for thousands of billions of years. |
|
Obtaining Ages of Stellar Clusters Using the H-R Diagram
There are thousands of stellar clusters in our Galaxy. We can quite easily determine the age of all these clusters by putting the stars onto an H-R Diagram and seeing what is the most massive star still seen on the Main Sequence. This is referred to as the turn off mass. In the diagram on the right, which is the youngest cluster? Which is the oldest? How can you tell? |
|