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CrackpipeStickman999 t1_j5kp7jv wrote

Reply to comment by lmxbftw in How do we know that the biggest known stars are actually so big and not just regular sized ones at the end of their "life"? by realzanji

Do the brightness and temp give a clue to if the star is about to "die" or that it's just a large star?

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Any-Broccoli-3911 t1_j5kqon3 wrote

Yes, we can put the stars in the diagram based on their brightness and their temperature.

If they are in the main diagonal, they burn core hydrogen and will last a while.

If they are brighter than the main diagonal, they burn shell hydrogen and either core or shell helium, they are close to their death.

If they are less bright than the main diagonal, they don't burn anything and are just slowly cooling down.

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GreenRangers t1_j5lmw0h wrote

Have we(humans) ever seen a star die?

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Any-Broccoli-3911 t1_j5lnuk0 wrote

Yes, each supernova is a star dying. Scientists see some with telescope every year. Humans have seen a few with just their eyes, SN 1604: Kepler's Supernova is the latest one in 1604.

Most stars die without supernovae, but we don't see those.

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jlittlenz t1_j5lrnsh wrote

You don't count SN 1987A? From wikipedia, Ian Shelton "went outside to look with the naked eye, and saw that the bright light was indeed present".

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