What color characterizes the newly formed, massive stars in the spiral arms?
Answer
Blue
The striking visual appearance of spiral arms is directly linked to the color signature of the stars being born there. Newly formed stars are inherently massive, extremely hot, and consequently, intensely luminous, causing them to shine with a brilliant blue light. Because these massive blue stars consume their nuclear fuel at an exceptionally rapid rate, their lifespan is very short—often not long enough for them to evolve significantly or travel far from the compressed arm region where they originated before they end their lives, typically by exploding as supernovae. Therefore, the brightness and blue coloration of the arms serve as a direct, tangible indicator of ongoing or very recent star formation events.
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