Hubble image archive

White Dwarfs in Globular Cluster M4

This graph shows the relationship between the temperature and brightness of a sampling of stars in the globular cluster M4. The line of dots at upper right represents main-sequence stars, those whose cores are fusing hydrogen. Normal stars like our Sun fall in the middle of this...

Date
Jan 1, 2002
Mission
Hubble Space Telescope
Archive ID
hubblesite-images-2002-10-1176-image
By

This graph shows the relationship between the temperature and brightness of a sampling of stars in the globular cluster M4. The line of dots at upper right represents main-sequence stars, those whose cores are fusing hydrogen. Normal stars like our Sun fall in the middle of this line.

The white dwarfs are not part of the main-sequence stars because they have used up their hydrogen fuel. These dying stars are fainter and yet hotter than their main-sequence relatives. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope hunted for the faintest and coolest of the white dwarfs [bottom of white dwarf population.]

Credits

NASA and A. Feild (STScI)

Image Details

About The Object
Object NameM4, NGC 6121

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Source

Image and source material are credited to the official mission archive linked below.

View on NASA.gov

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