HR DIAGRAM

1) a) The difference between an Mv B-V diagram and log L, log Teff diagram is that in
Mv B-V diagram is plot absolute magnitude versus B-V color index and in log L, log
Teef is plot luminosity versus effective temperature at surface on logarithmic scale.

b) To transform one to other we need a color-temperature relation, it is a bit difficult.

It depends of stellar composition and it can be affected by other factors, for example
stellar rotation. Also we need to know the distance to the star and effects of interstellar
extinction in magnitude and color.

2) We know that stars in upper right part of the HR diagram must have a large radius
because they have a high luminosity and a low temperature.

3) a) Gravitational compression in cores is greater in massive stars than in low-mass

stars. Massive stars need more radiation pressure pushing outward and thermal
pressure to balance the greater gravitational compression. A greater thermal pressure
is given by a higher temperature in star’s core. So, massive stars have a higher
temperature in their cores than cores of Sun-like stars. The material is burned faster in
massive stars because of their core’s high temperatures.
b) A massive star has a hot and a dense core which permits to burn material in
multiple ways. So, a 10-solar mass star will have a shorter live time in the main
sequence.
c) If we determine the mass of the main-sequence turnoff stars, we can find the age of
the cluster.

RADIATION
4) a) Flux is the total energy emitted per unit of surface in a unit of time. Luminosity is
the total energy emitted by whole surface of the stars. Luminosity and flux are
correlated to each other.

b) When the flux lines are entering inside the body, we use the term of inward flux so,
we calculate the flux inside a body and when flux lines are coming out of the body, we
call it outward flux and we calculate the flux outside the body. The net flux is the sum
of inward and outward flux. The net flux also may be positive, negative or zero.

b) If the net flux is outward(positive) it means that the outward flux is greater than
inward flux. But there still exist an inward flux.

5) In diagram is shown a perfect sphere, while stars are not perfect spheres at all so, we
need use corrections when we apply spherical geometry for stars.

6) We assume the star as a black body.

 7) Radiation energy will increase wit a greater factor because it is proportional to the
temperature at the fourth power while the thermal energy is proportional to the
temperature.

GASES
8) The mass density won’t change because mass is conserved and volume remains
constant. The number density will change because the number of particles increases.
The mean mean particle weight won’t change significantly because mass of electron is
much smaller than the mass of nucleus.

9) Each of these coefficients are ratio between mass fraction and mass number. Mass
fraction Xi is the fraction by mass of gas that is made up of element i. This expression
assumes that all special are fully ionized.

If gas consist only of hydrogen and helium:

2
𝜇=
𝑋+1
10) Cv is the change of internal energy with respect to temperature at a constant volume.
Cp is the change of enthalpy with respect to temperature at a constant pressure.

Cp is always greater than Cv because constant volume indicates that there is no

change in volume. Therefore the only change in the system is internal energy of the
system, due to the addition of heat.
Constant pressure heat capacity is where some amount of heat is also required for the
expansion process (change in volume).

11) A white dwarf is the remaining core of an intermediate mass star, the temperature is
very high, so that many of the carbon and oxygen atoms are mostly ionized. So there
is thus a free electron gas already present and there will be approximately six electrons
for every carbon nucleus and eight electrons for every oxygen nucleus. So white dwarf
matter is simply not a kind of matter that can be made of ordinary atoms.

VIRIAL THEOREM
12) For a monoatomic gas the energy per particle is
3𝑝
. This term appears in the last line of integral by parts.
2𝜌

13) Due to virial theorem if a star contracts then a half of gravitational potential energy is
converted into thermal energy. But another half is losed.
 The internal temperature and pressure will increase until it gets good conditions for
thermonuclear fusion of H to He. That energy released by thermonuclear reactions will
compensate the lost energy from the surface. Then the contraction of protostar stops.

14) This factor depends on the matter density distribution in the star. It would be to be
greater for white dwarf star since the density is approximatively constant.

15) Gravitational potential is negative because we define the zero of potential energy at
infinity. As we move mass toward the center of gravity of the arrangement the
potential energy decreases (becomes more negative) indicating that the kinetic energy
must have increased.

dLr is negative in a expanding region of star because star lose energy by radiation
from the surface, it is supported by thermal pressure require an energy source to avoid
collapse.

CONVECTION
16) ∆∇𝑇 is the difference between the actual temperature gradient and the adiabatic
temperature gradient.

If ∆∇T <0, convection doesn’t happen because there are not stable vertical motions.
This means that the actual temperature gradient is greater than the value of the
adiabatic temperature gradient.

17) Convection in the core of massive stars is favored if the power is generated in their
cores. In massive stars, the core has a high temperature, so hydrogen to helium occurs
via CNO cycle. Because of sensitivity of the CNO cycle, the temperature gradient in
the inner portion of the star is steep enough to make core convective. In the outer
portion they have radiative envelope because hydrogen is fully ionized there due to
high temperature.
In low mass stars hydrogen to helium fusion occurs via pp chains, which doesn’t
establish a steep temperature gradient. Radiation dominates in the inner portion of the
star, while the outer portion is cool, so hydrogen is neutral there. Therefore, these stars
have radiative cores with convective envelopes in the outer part.

18) Let’s consider a small blob of gas. The condition for outbreak of convection is: density
of the blob must be lower than the density of the surrounding gas. If it happens then
the gas blob will continue to rise, causing energy transfer by convection.

OPACITY
19) The sources of stellar opacity are:
– Bound-bound (bb) absorption
 This is transitions between different energy levels which cause absorption (or
emission) lines at discrete wavelengths.

– Bound-free (bf) absorption

This is process of photoionisation, it is one source of continuum opacity.

– Free-free (ff) absorption

A photon is absorbed by a free electron and an ion, which share the photon’s
momentum and energy. This create a continuum opacity.

– Electron scattering (es)

This is the scattering of photons by free electrons without change of photon energy, so
that it is also a source of continuum opacity.

20) Absorbtion coeficient has dimension of 𝑐𝑚−1, while opacity has units of 𝑐𝑚2 𝑔−1.

𝑎𝑣 = 𝜌𝑘𝑣 , where 𝜌 is the mass density.

21) Bound free absorbtion is most likely to be in stars composed primarly of hydrogen.
The fractional abundance (by mass) of hydrogen X is greater in population I stars.

22) A 10-solar-mass star II population will be more luminous than a I population star with
the same mass. Population II stars are metal-poor while population I are metal-rich
stars. the star with the higher metallicity will be cooler (redder), larger, and less
luminous. The effect of this increased opacity is to increase the internal energy of the
star, hence it becomes slightly puffier and its atmosphere cools.

NUCLEAR REACTIONS
23) Gamow peak is a probability that 2 nuclear particles’s will overcome the Coulomb
barrier to do reactions at a high temperature. Gamow peak is the result of Maxwell
distribution.
The two competive effects are: tunneling through Coulomb barrier and the energy tail
of the Boltzmann distribution.

24) The more abundant is He-3 because deuterium has a short lifetime, so each newly
created deuterium nucleus exists for only about four seconds before it is converted to
He-3.

25) The steps of the CNO and silicon-burning cycle involve protons fusing with carbon
and heavier nuclei. A carbon nucleus strongly repels an approaching proton thats why
CNO and silicon-burning cycle needs a higher temperature than the pp chain in order
to overcome the Coulomb barrier.
 The higher the temperature, the faster the reactions go as well, but the rate is very
sensitive to the kind of reaction involved. These kind of reaction requires a very high
temperature. They contribute so little to maintain hidrostatic equillibrium because they
require a little time. They contribute to energy degeneracy.

26) In the r-process neutron captures are more quickly, it can produce heavier elements
and more neutron-rich isotopes than the s-process.

Elements heavier than iron were formed by the r ans s process, but the remaining
elements were formed by p-process. The s- process requires heavy isotopes to convert
into a heavier nuclei. The r-process create their own isotopes, so they might happen in
massive star’s core.

STELAR EVOLUTION

27) The Hayashi track is a luminosity–temperature relationship for low mass-stars in the
pre-main sequence.

They apply to protostars and red giants because at the end of low-mass star’s life the
star follows another Hayashi track, which is reverse, its luminosity is increasing, its
size is expanding while the temperature remains the same.Also it can become a red
giant.
28) Masses less than 0.07 solar masses never reach temperatures and densities in their
cores high enough to fuse hydrogen to helium. They become brown dwarfs, not stars.

29) The hydrogen in the core is burned completely into helium. Initially the core’s
temperature is not enough to support helium burning. So, fussion dies out. After core
begins to contract and heats up until it gets a suitable temperature to support He
burning . The outer layers of the stars are expanding and their temperature decreases,
so the star has became a red giant.

30) RR Lyrae- periodic variable star which is pulsating in a horizontal branch

Classical cepheid-a type of star that pulsates radially

T Tauri- pre-main-sequence stars in the process of contracting to the main sequence

along the Hayashi track

Mira-pulsating variable stars characterized by very red colours

31) Neutrino luminosity doesn’t make a significant maintenance on hidrostatic
equillibrium because it is too low compared to total luminosity and neutrino has a very
low mass.
They have a significant role in a core-collapse supernovae.

32) The position of stars on HR diagram depends on their mass, luminosity, temperature,
size. Nuclear fusion powers a star for almost its entire life. Its lifetime depend of its
mass, it could range for a few million years to trillions of years.