Research topic: stellar populations

stellar populations two broadly contrasting distributions of star types that are characteristic of different parts of a galaxy . Population I stars are young, recently formed stars, whereas population II stars are old and highly evolved. Population II stars are formed early in the history of the galaxy from pure hydrogen with an admixture of primordial helium. Because massive blue-white giants burn their nuclear fuel quickly and therefore have lifetimes of only a few million years, no stars of this type are found in population II. The most luminous population II stars are red giants.... Read more