stellar population
Sign in to saveAlso known as stellar populations, population I, population II, population III, population 1, population 2, population 3, star population
group of stars sharing similar characteristics
Wikidata facts
- Image
- Starpop.svg
Show 1 more fact
- Commons category
- Stellar populations
via Wikidata · CC0
~16 min read
Article
Artist's conception of the spiral structure of the Milky Way showing Baade's general population categories. The blue regions in the spiral arms are composed of the younger population I stars, while the yellow stars in the central bulge are the older population II stars. In reality, many population I stars are also found mixed in with the older population II stars.
In 1944, Walter Baade categorized groups of stars within the Milky Way into stellar populations. In the abstract of the article by Baade, he recognizes that Jan Oort originally conceived this type of classification in 1926.