SLars

1he Llfe Cycle of a SLar (311)

SLar ls 8orn
SLars are born ln a nebula
nebula a cloud of dusL and gas composed
prlmarlly of hydrogen and hellum
1he aLoms of gas are
aLLracLed Lo each oLher by
gravlLy
1he more aLoms LhaL
clump LogeLher Lhe
sLronger Lhey aLLracL
oLher aLoms
SLar ls 8orn
s Lhe aLoms of hydrogen
are pulled LogeLher Lhey
begln Lo fuse LogeLher
lnLo hellum releaslng
large amounLs of energy
LvenLually Lhe lnward
force of gravlLy balances
Lhe ouLward pressure
from fuslon
S1 lS 8Cn!
Lagle nebula
Lagle nebula
Spire
Pillars of Creation
orsehead nebula
uslon
1he process LhaL keeps sLars sLable
under condlLlons of hlgh LemperaLure and
pressure aLoms can be LogeLher
1he mass of Lhe resulLlng aLom ls LLSS Lhan
Lhe sum of Lhe aLoms LhaL were fused
emember!
L mc
2
Mass can come from energy
Lnergy can come from mass
1he mlsslng mass" ls converLed lnLo energy
uslon

2
+
3


e + n

2
deuLerlum mass 201 amu

3
LrlLlum mass 3016 amu

e hellum mass 003 amu
n neuLron mass 1009 amu
ow much mass ls mlsslng"?
0018 amu
0018 amu 269 x 10
12
[oules of energy
noL much energy
8u1 Lhls happens 130 Lrllllon Lrllllon Lrllllon Llmes per
second ln Lhe sun
uslon
1he energy creaLed Lhrough fuslon provldes
an expanslon force
1he expanslon force and Lhe gravlLaLlonal
force are balanced for mosL a sLar's llfeLlme
Gravity
Expansion
erLzsprung and ussell
ln 1910 uuLch asLronomer L[nar erLzsprung
and merlcan asLronomer enry ussell
organlzed sLars ln a graph based on Lhelr
LemperaLure and lumlnoslLy
1he resulLlng erLzsprungussell ulagram (
ulagram) lllusLraLes Lhe dlfferenL caLegorles
of sLars
elps us undersLand Lhe phases of sLellar
evoluLlon
ulagram
Mass LffecL
1he evoluLlon of a sLar depends on lLs mass
our caLegorles
Masslve sLar
lnLermedlaLe Lo low mass sLar
8rown dwarf
laneL
noL a sLar aL all buL formed ln Lhe same way
8rown uwarf
Mass beLween 10 M
!
and 80 M
!
M
!
mass o f !uplLer
noL masslve enough (le noL enough gravlLy)
for mosL fuslon reacLlons
Some fuslon occurs buL noL enough Lo
lgnlLe" lnLo a full fledged sLar
ulfflculL Lo dlfferenLlaLe beLween brown
dwarfs and gas glanL planeLs (eg !uplLer or
SaLurn)
8rown uwarf
Maln Sequence
Maln Sequence
SLars regardless of mass spend mosL of Lhelr
llfe ln Lhe sLaLe known as Lhe fn
Jhen ln Lhe maln sequence Lhe sLar has
equlllbrlum beLween gravlLy and fuslon
1he blgger Lhe sLar Lhe fasLer lL fuses
hydrogen Lo balance gravlLy and Lhe shorLer
lLs llfespan
Cur sun ls relaLlvely small and has a llfespan
of abouL 10 bllllon years
Maln Sequence
1he word sequence" ls mlsleadlng
SLars are Lhe same color/LemperaLure Lhe
enLlre Llme LhaL Lhey are parL of Lhe maln
sequence
1hey don'L LranslLlon from red Lo yellow Lo blue
1he color/LemperaLure depends on Lhe mass
More mass more fuslon hoLLer brlghLer sLar
Maln Sequence
ed ClanLs
L some polnL all Lhe hydrogen ln
Lhe core has been fused lnLo
hellum
1he core beglns Lo collapse
CravlLaLlonal force Lakes over
1he core collapse heaLs up Lhe
shell of gas around lL causlng
hydrogen fuslon Lhere
1hls causes Lhe ouLer layers of
Lhe sLar Lo heaL up and expand
rapldly
ClanL SLars
1yplcally radlus 10 100 Llmes Lhe radlus of
Lhe sun
1yplcally lumlnoslLy (brlghLness) equlvalenL Lo
10 1000 suns
LargesL SLars
LargesL SLars
LargesL SLars
LargesL SLars
I Canls Ma[orls
1he largesL sLar dlscovered
adlus 2000 solar radll
LumlnoslLy 30000 Llmes Lhe brlghLness of
Lhe sun
Maln Sequence
JhlLe uwarf
1he lasL sLage for a sLar LhaL ls around Lhe slze
of our sun Lo abouL 10 Llmes larger
LvenLually Lhe ouLer layers of Lhe sLar are shed
creaLlng a nebula
1he remalnlng core ls a whlLe dwarf
Composed largely of carbon and oxygen wlLh a
hellum and/or hydrogen aLmosphere
JhlLe uwarf
1he mass of a whlLe dwarf ls comparable Lo Lhe
mass of Lhe sun
1he slze of a whlLe dwarf ls comparable Lo Lhe
earLh
lmaglne Lhe denslLy!
8lack uwarf
LvenLually Lhe energy of a whlLe dwarf wlll run
ouL
8lack dwarf baslcally a lump of coal
1he Llme lL wlll Lake Lo become a black dwarf
ls longer Lhan Lhe age of Lhe unlverse so no
black dwarfs can yeL exlsL
Supernova
ln a larger sLar Lhe ouLward pressure of fuslon
wlll evenLually dle down and gravlLy wlll cause
Lhe core Lo lmplode
1hls releases loads of energy whlch sends Lhe
ouLer layers lnLo space
1he dense core remalns
neuLron SLar
8lack ole
nlmaLlons 1 (020) 2 (037)
lmporLance of Supernovae
resupernova sLars are llke
onlons Layers!
lnlLlally hydrogen fuses Lo for
hellum
Jhen hydrogen runs ouL
hellum fuses lnLo heavler
elemenLs
1hls process conLlnues up Lo
lron
lmporLance of Supernova
upon exploslon heavy
elemenLs e[ecLed lnLo space
eavy elemenLs enrlch
nebulae where sLars and
planeLs are formed
ll Lhe carbon ln your cells all Lhe oxygen you
breaLh all Lhe calclum ln your bones all Lhe lron ln
your blood was creaLed ln a masslve sLar and
e[ecLed lnLo space when LhaL sLar exploded
SLarSLuff
%e cosmos is
also witin us. We
are made of star
stuff.
- Carl Sagan
neuLron SLar
1he lmploslon of a large sLar ls so sLrong LhaL
proLons and elecLrons geL forced LogeLher
creaLlng neuLrons
lncredlbly uense
3 x 10
17
kg/m
3
ulameLer 12 km
Mass 2 solar masses
1 Leaspoon of neuLron sLar welghs 1 8lLLlCn
Lons
ulsar (23)
ulsaLlng SLar"
neuLron sLars roLaLe aL
lncredlble speeds
uue Lo Lhls roLaLlon and Lhe sLar's sLrong
magneLlc fleld a beam of radlaLlon ls emlLLed
s Lhe neuLron sLar roLaLes Lhe beam wlll
perlodlcally polnL Loward Lhe earLh
8lack ole
Jhen Lhe mass of Lhe posLsupernova core ls
greaL enough gravlLy ls so sLrong LhaL Lhe
neuLrons geL crushed LogeLher
8lack ole
1he escape veloclLy of a black hole ls fasLer
Lhan Lhe speed of llghL (300000000 m/s)
1he escape veloclLy of Lhe earLh ls only
11000 m/s
LvenL orlzon Schwarzschlld adlus
or every ob[ecL Lhere ls a dlsLance from lLs
cenLer where Lhe escape veloclLy ls equal Lo
Lhe speed of llghL
LarLh 1 cm
!uplLer 3 m
Sun 3 km
Cne way Lo deflne a black hole ls an ob[ecL
LhaL lles wlLhln lLs own Schwarzschlld radlus
LvenL orlzon Schwarzschlld adlus
LvenL orlzon Lhe surface of an lmaglnary
sphere wlLh a radlus equal Lo Lhe
Schwarzschlld radlus and cenLered on a
collapsed sLar
JlLhln Lhls reglon no evenL can be seen
heard or known by anyone ouLslde
LvenL orlzon Schwarzschlld adlus
1here ls no maLLer of Lhe black hole aL Lhe
evenL horlzon buL because we can'L see pasL
lL we conslder Lhls Lhe surface" of Lhe black
hole
Lvldence for 8lack oles
8y deflnlLlon black holes cannoL be seen so
how do we know Lhey exlsL?
8lnary SysLems
CalacLlc CenLer
8lnary SysLem
SLar and black hole orblLlng each oLher
1he black hole sucks some gas off Lhe sLar
(accreLlon) whlch splrals around Lhe black hole
heaLlng up and emlLLlng x rays
Je can'L dlrecLly observe Lhe black hole buL we
can observe Lhe effecLs of lL
8lnary SysLem
CalacLlc CenLer
near Lhe cenLer of many galaxles sLars and gas
are movlng lncredlbly fasL orblLlng a very
masslve lnvlslble ob[ecL
Supermasslve black hole
black hole wlLh a mllllon Lo a bllllon Llmes Lhe
mass of Lhe Sun
8lack oles (188)
SlxLy Symbols (637)
ueaLh by 8lack ole
1he Lnd