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WEDNESDAY JANUARY 31 - THE COLOR OF STARS
This Franklin Fact is by Derrick Pitts, Chief Astronomer at The Franklin Institute.
With a casual glance at the night sky, stars may appear to be only white, but a closer
look reveals that stars actually have color. Stellar colors are the visual indicator
of how a star lives its life. For example, red stars have the lowest temperatures and
live longest, while blue stars are the hottest and burn out quickly. Our yellowish
sun is an average temperature star - about 10,000oF.
Colors also indicate stars' age and speed as they move through the galaxy, just some
of the topics we'll be discussing on SkyTour.
Join me and my co-host Martin Wells for our award-winning radio astronomy program,
SkyTour, tonight at 8pm on WHYY 91FM. We'll be broadcasting live from North Penn High
School in Lansdale, Pennsylvania. For more information, check our website at
www.whyy.org/skytour.
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