O-type star

An O-type star is a hot, blue-white star of spectral type O in the Yerkes classification system employed by astronomers. They have temperatures in excess of 30,000 Kelvin (K) and so appear to the left on the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram. Stars of this type are identified by their dominant Helium II absorption lines, strong lines of other ionised elements, and Hydrogen and neutral He lines weaker than spectral type B.

Stars of this type are particularly rare; only 0.00003% of the main sequence are O-type stars. However, because they are usually very bright, they can be seen when further away than dimmer stars, and two of the 90 brightest stars as seen from Earth are O type. Due to high temperature and luminosity, O-type stars end their lives rather quickly in violent supernova explosions, resulting in black holes or neutron stars. Most of these stars are young massive main sequence, giant, or supergiant stars, but the central stars of planetary nebulae, old low-mass stars near the end of their lives, also usually have O spectra.