Tip of the red-giant branch result is a sharp discontinuity in the evolutionary track of the star on the HR diagram. This discontinuity is called the tip of the red-giant branch. When distant stars at the TRGB are measured in the I-band (in the infrared), their luminosity is somewhat insensitive to their composition of elements heavier than helium (metallicity) or their mass; they are a standard candle with an I-band absolute magnitude of –4.0±0.1. This makes the technique especially useful as a distance indicator. The TRGB indicator uses stars in the old stellar populations (Population II). Tip of the red-giant branch Tip of the red-giant
S-type star difficult for a red giant to have other s-process elements in its atmosphere without technetium. S-type stars without technetium form by the transfer of technetium-rich matter, as well as other dredged-up elements, from an intrinsic S star in a binary system onto a smaller less-evolved companion. After a few hundred thousand years, the Tc will have decayed and a technetium-free star enriched with carbon and other s-process elements will remain. When this star is, or becomes, a G or K type red giant, it will be classified as a Barium star. When it evolves to temperatures cool enough for ZrO