The Henyey track is a path taken by pre–main sequence stars with masses >0.5 Solar mass in the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram after the end of Hayashi track. The astronomer Louis G. Henyey and his colleagues in the 1950s, showed that the pre–main sequence star can remain in radiative equilibrium throughout some period of its contraction to the main sequence. The Henyey track is characterized by a slow collapse in near hydrostatic equilibrium. They are approaching the main sequence almost horizontally in the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram (i.e. the luminosity remains almost constant).
Famous quotes containing the word track:
“To most men, experience is like the stern lights of a ship, which illumine only the track it has passed.”
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834)