The presence of which type of star strongly indicates that an open cluster is relatively young?
Answer
Hot, blue, bright stars
The observation of numerous hot, blue, bright stars serves as a definitive visual indicator of a cluster's youth. These massive stars consume their nuclear fuel at an extremely rapid rate due to their high luminosity and temperature. Consequently, their lifespan is very short in cosmic terms. If an open cluster is still observed containing a significant population of these blue giants, it necessarily implies that the cluster has not existed long enough for these massive stars to exhaust their fuel and evolve off the main sequence. This presence confirms the cluster is young, typically tens to hundreds of millions of years old.
Related Questions
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