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colour–magnitude diagram
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colour–magnitude diagram

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Hertzsprung-Russell diagram
magnitude

colour–magnitude diagram, in astronomy, graph showing the relation between the absolute magnitudes (brightnesses) of stars and their colours, which are closely related to their temperatures and spectral types. It is similar to the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram except that the latter plots spectral types instead of colours.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Erik Gregersen.