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- Stars are huge self-luminous spheres of gas fueled by
- thermonuclear fires at their cores. Although all stars have the
- same basic composition, they differ individually in color,
- temperature, mass, diameter and age. These characteristics can
- be directly related to the stellar "spectrum", the rainbow of
- colors produced when starlight passes through a prism or
- diffraction grating. Astronomers place stars into different
- Spectral Classes based on the appearance of these spectra. The
- basic spectral classes and the associated star colors are
- designated "O" (Violet), "B" (Blue), "A" (White), "F"
- (Yellow-White), "G" (Yellow), "K" (Orange) and "M" (Red).