Hr Diagram Lifetime. On plotting a hertzsprung russell diagram the region occupied by most stars in the diagram is along a line. Stars are color coded based on their real observed colors.
Most of the stars lifetime is spent on the line where it burns hydrogen in its core known as the main sequence. The luminosity of the star is the energy released per unit time. How to read the h r diagram.
What are the main axis x y labels for the hr diagram.
8 rows luminosity of stars if often expressed in units of the suns luminosity l 39 x 10 26. In a true hr diagram you would plot the effective temperature of a star on the x axis and the luminosity of a star on the y axis. The sun a g type star with a main sequence lifetime of 10 billion years is currently 5 billion years old about half way through its main sequence lifetime. It must be in hydrostatic equilibrium pressure balances gravity it must be in thermal equilibrium energy generation balances luminosity it must generate energy by burning hydrogen into.