Article
Article
Carbon star
Article By:
Green, Paul J. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Last reviewed:November 2019
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.108500
Any star whose spectrum shows a higher abundance of carbon than of oxygen. The carbon enhancements are easily recognizable from strong spectral absorption bands of carbon in molecular forms such as C2, CN, and CH. Many types of carbon star are known, covering a wide variety of masses, temperatures, abundances, and luminosities. The cool red appearance, high luminosity, and intrinsic variability of bright carbon stars show that they are giant stars.
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