population II

population II

[‚päp·yə′lā·shən ′tü]

(astronomy)

A class of stars which are relatively old and evolved, have low metallic content and high peculiar velocities from 60 to 300 miles (100 to 500 kilometers) per second, and are found chiefly in the spheroidal halo of a galaxy. Also known as halo population.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.