blue straggler veylân-e âbi Fr.: traînarde bleue, traînard bleu Any of stars, often found in → globular clusters and old → open clusters, that lie on the blueward extension of the → main sequence beyond the → turnoff point. Blue stragglers have an anomalously blue color and high luminosity in comparison with other cluster members. The most probable ways in which they could form are: → mass transfer or → coalescence in → close binary systems, encounters or collisions in overcrowded cores of globular clusters. |