What stellar commonality forms by stealing fuel or merging, appearing younger on the H-R diagram?
Answer
Blue stragglers
The incredibly dense, dynamic environment of a globular cluster core fosters conditions that lead to the prevalence of exotic stellar components, a prime example of which is the blue straggler. These stars appear anomalous because they have reverted to a hotter, brighter state, seemingly younger than the rest of their age cohort observed on the H-R diagram. This phenomenon is achieved through violent gravitational interactions, such as stealing fuel from a close binary neighbor, undergoing complete stellar mergers, or through complex exchanges within binary systems. Their presence serves as a direct indicator that the cluster has experienced significant dynamical activity over its long lifetime.
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