What is a star?

Stars are self-gravitating almost spherical balls of mostly hydrogen

gas that are generating their energies by converting hydrogen into
helium by nuclear fusion process for most of their ‘lives’.
Structure of the Sun

Image Source: 7A Structure 'Surface' –Photosphere 'Atmosphere' –Chromosphere –Transistion zone

–
Stellar Atmospheres
Study of outer layers of stars
In 1802, William Wollaston passed sunlight through
prism and found

Image Source: Copyright Deutches Museum, Munich

The Sun does not emit continuously at all wavelengths!

By 1814, Fraunhofer had measured
the wavelengths of 475 of these dark
lines.

Joseph Fraunhofer
(1787-1826)

The wavelength of one of the prominent lines matched with

the wavelength of the yellow light when salt is sprinkled in a
flame − the sodium line!
Voilà! The new science of Spectroscopy was just
born!
Kirchoff and Bunsen’s contribution

Together, a theoretical Physicist and a Chemist, Kirchoff and

Bunsen, designed a spectroscope that passed the light of a flame
spectrum through the prism (1859).
What did they learn?

● Wavelengths of the light emitted and absorbed by the elements

were the same
● 70 dark lines in the solar spectrum matched with 70 bright lines
emitted by iron vapour!
● Previously unknown elements were found - cesium, rubidium

● In 1868 during solar eclipse new spectral lines were found – the
element was named helium – it was later found on earth in
1895
These resulted into the three Kirchoff’s laws of radiation.
Kirchoff’s Laws

A hot dense gas or hot solid object produces a continuous

spectrum with no dark spectral lines.
Kirchoff’s Laws

A hot diffuse gas produces bright spectral lines (emission lines).

Kirchoff’s Laws

A cool diffuse gas in front of a source of a continuous spectrum

produces dark spectral lines on top of the continuous spectrum
(absorption lines).
More discoveries

In 1885, a Swiss school teacher Johann Balmer had worked out a

formula that would reproduce spectral lines of Hydrogen (Balmer
lines)

where n = 3, 4, 5, …, RH = 1.09 X 107 m-1 is the Rydberg Constant.

More developments
In 1897, Pieter Zeeman had discovered that spectral lines could be
split on application of magnetic field

In 1913, Stark showed that spectral lines would also split in the
presence of electric field

In 1913 Bohr’s atomic model of hydrogen was developed

 Each electron in an atom is described by four quantum numbers:

Principle Quantum Number (n) : n = 1, 2, 3, ….

Angular Momentum Quantum Number (l) : l = 0, 1, …. n-1
Magnetic Quantum Number (ml) : ml = -l, …,0, …l
Spin Quantum Number (ms) : = ±1/2

Pauli’s Exclusion Principle - No two electrons (fermions)

in a given atom can occupy the same quantum state.
Selection Rules
Allowed

Forbidden
Notation for ionization status of elements

Neutral Calcium - Ca I
Singly ionized Calcium - Ca II
Doubly ionized Calcium - Ca III
 The Spectral Classification
1890-1914 Annie Cannon et al. Harvard Astronomy
Harvard Spectral Classification
Harvard Spectral Classification
Hydrogen lines becoming stronger from O to A
Hydrogen lines strength now decreasing from A to F
He I lines strength increases up to B2/B5 then decreases
No Ca II K line visible until late B
Ca II K line becoming stronger till late F
Absorption bands present in K and M type stars
The Spectral Classification
What is it?
The significance of spectral sequence

The spectral sequence is temperature sequence.

 O
Early
T B
Type
e
A
m
p. F
G
K
Late
Type M
Courtesy: Internet
 O
Early A0 Early A
T B
Type A1
e
A .
m
.
p. F
.
G A9 Late A
K
Late
Type M
Spectral lines/features to remember
● Hydrogen Balmer lines peak at A0 and reduce in strength in
both earlier and later spectral types
● Ionized Helium (He II) lines are seen only in O stars
● Neutral Helium (He I) lines are seen only in O and B stars
● Singly ionized Calcium (Ca II) lines start showing up from F stars
and are at peak in K stars
● Absorption bands such as due to TiO molecule seen only in the
coolest stars, M type.
 Are two stars of a spectral type
identical in every term?
Do stars also have greying of hair as they grow old?

Stay tuned!
Statistical Distributions

The Question The Assumption

For a system of large number Particles interact enough to
of particles (N), what is the reach thermal equilibrium.
most probable way to
distribute the available total
energy (E)?
The Premise
Greater the number of ways a
particular distribution of energies
can be arrived at, the more likely
that distribution is!
 Particles distinguishable
Distribution of Energies Maxwell-Boltzmann Distribution

Particles indistinguishable, Spin 0

Bose-Einstein Distribution

Particles indistinguishable, Half

integral Spin
Fermi Dirac Distribution
Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution

Boltzmann factor:

Particles cannot have energies significantly different from the

thermal energy.
Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution

For a gas in thermal equilibrium, the

fraction of particles (number of
particles per unit volume) having
speeds between v and v+dv
Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution

The most probable speed is,

Fig. 9.3 Concepts of Modern Physics (Arthur Beiser)
Fig. 9.4 Concepts of Modern Physics (Arthur Beiser)
 Ex. 8.1.1 At T=10,000 K what fraction of hydrogen atoms
have speed between 20,000 and 25,000 m/s? 0.12

2.4 x 10-5
5000
Ex. 8.1.1 At T=10,000 K what fraction of hydrogen atoms
have speed between 20,000 and 25,000 m/s?

0.125 8.4 X 10-14 0.0467 3.17 X 1013

Boltzmann equation

Principle: Orbitals of higher energy are less likely to be occupied

than orbitals of lower energy.

The exponent term is Boltzmann factor.

Boltzmann equation

As energy levels are degenerate

Since the number of atoms in stellar environments are very large,

the ratios of numbers (atoms) approach ratios of probabilities.
Degeneracy of Hydrogen g(n) = 2n2
Ex. 8.1.3 At what temperature will equal numbers of
hydrogen atoms be in the ground level and the first excited
level?

At T = 85400 K!
At ~10000 K, there are hardly any H atoms in the first excited
state, then why do Balmer lines peak in A0 stars?
We only have half knowledge.

We are assuming that all H atoms are neutral!

Saha equation

The Saha equation gives us the probabilities of atoms populating

various ionization levels.

Here Z are partition functions, 𝜒 is the ionization potential of the

element, h is the Planck constant, and ne is the number density of
electrons.
Partition function

Partition function is a weighted sum of the number of ways atoms

can arrange its electrons with the same energy.
Partition function for HI
Why are Balmer lines strongest at A0?
Ex. 8.1.4 For stellar atmosphere composed of pure hydrogen,
and having constant electron pressure (20 N.m-2), find the
fraction of hydrogen atoms in their first excited state (as a
function of temperature).
Why are Balmer lines strongest at A0?
Boltzmann equation: Calculate ratios of neutral Hydrogen
atoms in the first excited state to ground state.

Temperature N2/N1 N2/N1+N2

Why are Balmer lines strongest at A0?
Boltzmann equation: Calculate ratios of neutral Hydrogen
atoms in the first excited state to ground state.

Temperature (K) N2/N1 N2/N1+N2

5000 1.99 x 10-10

10000 2.82 x 10-5

25000 0.0349
Why are Balmer lines strongest at A0?
Boltzmann equation: Calculate fraction of neutral
Hydrogen atoms in the first excited state.

Temperature (K) N2/N1 N2/N1+N2

5000 1.99 x 10-10 1.99 x 10-10

10000 2.82 x 10-5 2.819 x 10-5

25000 0.0349 0.0337

Why are Balmer lines strongest at A0?
Boltzmann equation: Plot fraction of neutral Hydrogen
atoms in the first excited state as a function of temperature.

Temperature N2/N1 N2/N1+N2

(K)

5000 1.99 x 10-10 1.99 x 10-10

10000 2.82 x 10-5 2.819 x 10-5

25000 0.0349 0.0337

Why are Balmer lines strongest at A0?
Saha equation: Calculate ratios of ionized Hydrogen atoms
to neutral Hydrogen atoms.

Temperature N2/N1 N2/N1+N2

Why are Balmer lines strongest at A0?
Saha equation: Calculate ratios of ionized Hydrogen atoms
to neutral Hydrogen atoms.

Temperature (K) NII/NI NII/NI + NII

5000 5.48 x 10-8

10000 2.28

25000 294,571
Why are Balmer lines strongest at A0?
Saha equation: Calculate the fraction of ionized Hydrogen
atoms of total Hydrogen atoms.

Temperature (K) NII/NI NII/NI + NII

5000 5.48 x 10-8 5.48 x 10-8

10000 2.28 0.69

25000 294,571 0.999

Why are Balmer lines strongest at A0?
Saha equation: Plot the fraction of ionized Hydrogen
atoms of total Hydrogen atoms.

Temper NII/NI NII/NI +

ature NII
(K)
5000 5.48 x 5.48 x
10-8 10-8
10000 2.28 0.69

25000 294,571 0.999

Why are Balmer lines strongest at A0?
Combine Boltzmann and Saha results: What fraction of
ALL Hydrogen atoms are in the first excited state?

Temperature N2/NTotal
(K)

5000 1.98 x 10-10

10000 8.59 x 10-6

25000 1.14 x 10-7

 T ~ 8300−11300 K
Partial Ionization Zone

The highest fraction of total (neutral + ionized) H atoms in the first

excited state are found at 10000 K! Balmer lines strongest at A0.
Ex. 8.1.5 For sun, the photosphere temperature is 5777 K,
electron pressure is 1.5 N m-2 . For Ca II, g1=2, g2=4, and
the difference E2-E1 = 3.12 eV. The ionization energy for Ca
is 6.11 eV. ZI = 1.32, ZII = 2.30.

If the strength of line due to CaII (n=1) is 395 times greater

than the strength of line due to HI(n=2), compare the actual
number of both atoms in Sun.
Steps:
1. Calculate fractional abundance of neutral Hydrogen in
the first excited state at 5777 K.

2. Calculate fractional abundance of singly ionized

Calcium in the ground state at 5777 K.
NIII/NII = 1.93 X 10-3
 Ex. 8.1.5 For sun, the photosphere temperature is 5777 K,
electron pressure is 1.5 N m-2 . For Ca II, g1=2, g2=4, and
the difference E2-E1 = 3.12 eV. The ionization energy for Ca
is 6.11 eV. ZI = 1.32, ZII = 2.30.

If the strength of line due to CaII (n=1) is 395 times greater

than the strength of line due to HI(n=2), compare the actual
number of both atoms in Sun.

For each Ca atom in Sun, there are 500,000 atoms of

Hydrogen.
In 1925, Cecilia Payne, a graduate
student at the time, used the new
theory of ionization of elements by
Meghnad Saha and Ralph Fowler to
analyze stellar spectra. She compared
relative abundance of 18 elements.
Cecilia Payne
(1900-1979)

Her Conclusion: Stars contain ~70% Hydrogen, 28%

Helium, and only ~2% elements heavier than Helium.
(How) Are spectral types related to
luminosities of stars?
The Hertzsprung Russell Diagram
H-R Diagram
 Sp.
Type

M
V
Stellar Mass – Luminosity: Empirical Relation
 Sp. Type

Same T, greater L.

M
V

Same T, smaller L.

More the mass of star -> More the surface temp. -> More the
luminosity.
 Are two stars of a spectral type
identical in every term?
What do greater/smaller luminosities at the same T imply?

Greater luminosities -> Bigger stars!

Smaller luminosities -> Smaller stars!

Any subtle differences in spectra of
giants and main-sequence ?
Width of lines in A0 spectral type
Luminosity Class
Spectral Classes: 2-Dimensional Classification
Spectral classification is a 2-dimensional classification with
spectral type being the 1st dimension and luminosity class,
the 2nd dimension. Complete specification is given as A2V for
example, where A2 is the spectral type and V (five) is the
luminosity class.
Comparison: Supergiant and Dwarf
 Solar mass:
Solar radius:

Betelgeuse mass: 10−15 Mʘ

Betelgeuse radius: 700−1000 Rʘ

The huge disparity in the densities give rise to differences

in the widths of their spectral lines.
Comparison: White dwarf and Dwarf
Spectroscopic Parallax
Stars of identical spectral type plus luminosity class are
almost nearly same in every respect! This physical similarity
between stars gives us a distance measurement tool!
Spectroscopic Parallax
Definitions of Temperatures
Effective Temperature

From the luminosity and the radius of the star, the

temperature that the Stefan-Boltzmann law implies is the
Effective temperature of the star. This corresponds to
temperature of the photosphere.
 Surface Temperature

Image Source: Sky &

Telescope

Use color indices (to infer the peak and the slope of the
blackbody continuum) and use Wien’s Displacement Law, the
temperature it implies is the Surface temperature (or the
color temperature).
 Excitation Temperature

Calculate the number of electrons in different orbitals, say

n=2 and n=3 of hydrogen gas in a stellar atmosphere, the
temperature it implies is the Excitation temperature.
 Ionization Temperature

Calculate the number of atoms in different ionized states,

say H I (neutral Hydrogen) and H II (singly ionized
Hydrogen) in a stellar atmosphere, the temperature it
implies is the Ionization temperature.
 Kinetic Temperature

Calculate the distributions of velocities of molecules in say

Hydrogen gas, the temperature it implies is the Kinetic
temperature.