The Different Colors of Stars and Why Stars are Colored Differently
As you may or may not know, stars actually come in a variety of colors. But do you know all of the different colors that stars can be? In this post, we will explore why stars come in different colors and then we will identify all of the different colors that stars can be.
The color that a star appears depends mainly on the temperature that it burns at. More specifically, the color is directly related to the surface temperature of a star. In the lowest temperature range, stars appear in the red color family. At the highest temperatures, stars appear blue. In general, stars are categorized by certain types depending on their temperature, and those temperature ranges and types are as follows:
- 3,000° – 6,000° Fahrenheit (1,649° – 3,316° Celsius): Type M
- 6,000° – 8,500° Fahrenheit (3,316° – 4,704° Celsius): Type K
- 8,500° – 10,500° Fahrenheit (4,704° – 5,816° Celsius): Type G
- 10,500° – 13,000° Fahrenheit (5,816° – 7,204° Celsius): Type F
- 13,000° – 17,500° Fahrenheit (7,204° – 9,704° Celsius): Type A
- 17,500° – 50,000° Fahrenheit (9,704° – 27,760° Celsius): Type B
- 50,000° – 100,000° Fahrenheit (27,760° – 55,538° Celsius): Type O
Now that you know what the different classifications for star temperatures are, the next question is what color are stars of a given temperature. The following star color list shows what color a star will be given the type (i.e. the temperature range) it falls under:
- Type M stars: Red
- Type K stars: Orange
- Type G stars: Yellow-White
- Type F stars: White
- Type A stars: White
- Type B stars: Blue-White
- Type O stars: Blue
As you can see, by know the surface temperature of a given star, you can determine its color. One important aspect to realize regarding star color is that a star does not only give off one color of light. Rather, all stars give off all colors of light – the reason they appear a certain color is because that is the color of the majority of light that the star gives off.
Thank you i need this for my science project
Thank you , you answer my homework
I just photographed Plejadi and there were red, yellow, GREEN blue and white stars in it. It was not due to cromatic aberration. Is the redshift reason for green stars in my photo?
Thank you very much i learn more and i can answer my questions regarding that topic!;)
are there any green stars
there are no green stars its just light
I am making a galaxy quilt for my grandson and I needed to know what color are stars actually. Thanks for the answer!
My question would be is that, because of the colors listed are they mostly Primary Colors except for orange?
this helped me a lot thx 🙂
i needed for my sience project thx
thx alot!
it helped me alot 🙂
what is the temperature of conopus,capella,rigel,sirius,sun and vega
Please pardon my interruption in this thread, got here sort of by accident, but all this talk of colors caught my interest. I’m not sure if the rules & characteristics of how and why we see things as a certain color here on earth apply to stars in outer space.
From my past studies into colors, hues and tints, I have learned that when our human eyes see an object of any specific color, the “color” we see any specific object as is NOT really the true color of that object.
In a nutshell, it is about not only which and how much of the different colors in the spectrum of the active light source on an object, but how much of each color in that spectrum is absorbed, and what is deflected by the object in question that influences what color we perceive an object to be.
If we see something blue for instance, the object is not truly blue in color despite appearing so. It is merely the colors absorbed along with those reflected that make that object seen as blue by our eyes.
tnx tnx tnx!!!!but still i dont know whats the temperature and color of procyon, cygni, deneb, and aldebran…
Why stars have different colors.
Thank you 🙂 😉 🙂
now i know why they have colors
thanks it helps
no.
ty for anwsering my homework thank you <3
thanks for this 🙂
Thanks for this