I'm convinced that this is how a lot of wars start ... people talking to each other
using words that mean different things to different people.
You're talking 'high' and 'low', which are certainly relative words at best, without
mentioning anything else that might tell us what you're thinking of to compare to.
Compared to you or me, or either of my dogs, or a car, or a continent, or the whole
Earth, the star Polaris is certainly an enormous mass.
Compared to any stable black hole, Polaris is a tiny mass. It doesn't even have
enough mass to ever become a black hole when it's done shining.
Polaris is estimated as six (6) solar masses. That's more massive than most
main-sequence stars, less massive than the majority of high-mass stars, and
roughly the mass of our sun six times over.
-- Compared to anything but stars, the mass of Polaris is huge.
-- Compared to the mass of other stars, Polaris is somewhat above average,
but probably not to the point where you'd need to call it especially high or
especially low.
Edit: A lot of this is missing the point. The terms "high mass" and "low mass"
are technical terms used by astronomers.
Astronomers can define what is meant.
There is no exact definition, but a high mass star is normally considered to be one that will eventually become a "Type II Supernova". That requires a mass at least 8 times the Sun's mass.
In that case, Polaris is clearly not a "high mass" star, according to the definition.
However, it's probably best to call Polaris a "medium" or "intermediate" mass star rather than a "low mass" star.
Note: A slight complication is that Polaris is a triple star system. I assume we are talking about the main star in this system.
High mass.
High mass.
white dwarf
The Sun is a medium mass star in main sequence.
A low mass star will become a white dwarf star, eventually this will cool to become a black dwarf. A high mass star (at least 8 times the mass of our Sun) will form a neutron star or a black hole, after a supernova event.
There are more low mass stars. this is for two reasons:- # the star forming process generates more low mass stars # High mass stars burn out very quickly and explode as supernovas and thus over time there are less and less of them.
The sun is a low mass sequence star. It is classified as a G-type main-sequence star, which means it is in the middle of its stellar evolution and will remain stable for billions of years.
In a newly formed star cluster stars with low masses must greaty out number stars with high masses. High mass stars are rare and low mass stars are extremely common.
Juvenile star is typically classified as a low mass star, as it is in the early stage of its life cycle. These stars have a mass similar to that of the Sun or less. They are characterized by their long lifespan and relatively stable nature.
a low mass protostar is the begining formation of a low mass star. a low mass protostar is formed by a nebula (stellar nursery), like a cloud in space, where all stares come from. the definition of protostar is: a collection of gas, and dust who`s gravitational pull is causing it to collapse on itself & form a star. a LOW MASS protostar just has a LOWER MASS then a HIGH MASS protostar. Your Welcome:)
High, typically 10 to 70 times (or more) the mass of our own sun.
Vega has about 2.1 times the mass of the Sun. That's a fairly large mass; but you'll have to choose where you set the limit between "medium-mass" and "high-mass"! It is definitely not "low-mass"; in general, low-mass stars, i.e. red dwarves, can't be seen with the naked eye, even if they are in our immediate neighborhood. (The very closest star after the Sun is Proxima Centauri, and it can't be seen with the naked eye.) The main definition of a high mass star is a star that can eventually explode as a supernova. For that the star needs to be around at least 8 times the Sun's mass. I would say Vega is best thought of as "medium mass".