Hertzsprungn.
/ˈhəːtsprʌŋ/, U.S. /ˈhərtsˌprəŋ/ Astronomy.
attributive. Designating astronomical concepts and phenomena described by Hertzsprung or arising from his work. Hertzsprung gap n. (in a Hertzsprung–Russell diagram) the gap between the main sequence and the giant branch, which contains relatively few stars.
ΚΠ
1942 W. M. Smart Found. Astron. 215 The gaps between the giants and dwarfs of types K and G are also evident from the statistics.]
1948 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 34 27 It was shown that..the form of the light curve was not closely dependent on period (Hertzsprung effect) except in the vicinity of periods of ten days.
1953 L. H. Aller Astrophysics i. 13 The gap at absolute magnitude O, between the main sequence and the giants (the Hertzsprung gap) now appears to be populated and includes the cluster-type Cepheid variables.
1978 J. M. Pasachoff & M. L. Kutner University Astron. vii. 167 (caption) The presence of the Hertzsprung gap..indicates that stars evolve rapidly through this part of the diagram.
1992 S. P. Maran Astron. & Astrophysics Encycl. 718/2 The form of the light curve changes with period in a systematic way known as the Hertzsprung progression.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, March 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1948