Astronomy 851/852

A star gets its energy from the process of fusion. With with a high enough temperature (15 million Kelvin remember that temperature is a measure of average kinetic energy) four hy rogen atoms (1 proton each) can fuse to become a helium atom (! protons an two neutrons). "he total mass of the helium atom is less than the sum of the masses of the # hy rogen atoms. "he small ifference in mass is converte to energy accor ing to $ % mc&!. "his happens in our 'un at a rate of 1(&)* times pers secon + As long as sun,like star is fusing hy rogen it contines to be a main se-uence star as seen on the .ert/sprung, 0ussell graph we iscusse in class. "he powerpoint presentations on this website escribe the .,0 iagram). "he star at this stage is in e-uilibrium with the gravitational forces that want to collapse the star balance by an outwar force resulting from the energy pro uce by fusion. As the core runs out of hy rogen the core begins to contract an heat up to a temperature (1(( million K+) an helium begins to fuse. "he tremen ous heat pro uce as the core continues to contract. "he ra iating heat pushes the gases out causeing the outer layers to e1pan an cool. "he surface temperature is cooler than the the original main se-uence star an is less luminous (light emitte per unit area). 2ut there is much3 much more surface area3 so the sun,like star is very bright. At this stage the star has become a red giant. After e1pan ing an reaching the enormous red giant phase3 the

outer layers of the star continue to e1pan . "he core continues to contract4 the helium atoms in the core continue to fuse together3 forming carbon atoms an releasing energy. "he core is now stable since there is not enough remaining mass to create the gravitational pressure to fuse the carbon atoms. 5ow the outer layers of the star start to rift off into space3 forming a planetary nebula (a planetary nebula has nothing to o with planets). "he star loses most of its mass to the nebula. "he star cools an shrinks4 it will eventually be only a few thousan miles in iameter+ "he star is now a white dwarf3 a stable star with no nuclear fuel. 6t ra iates its left,over heat for billions of years. When its heat is all isperse 3 it will be a col 3 ark black warf , essentially a ea star (perhaps replete with iamon s3 highly compresse carbon).

When huge stars grow ol 3 they become even more enormous red supergiants (as their core fuses all the hy rogen into helium). "heir core shrinks3 becoming hotter an enser. With these changes3 ifferent nuclear processes occur4 fusion now pro uces heavier

elements (this temporarily stops the core7s shrinking). .eavier an heavier elelments are pro uce as the core continues to collapase an heat up until iron is create . With all the elements up to iron3 when fusion occurs3 mass is converte into energy an release . With iron this oes not occur. 5o energy is release when iron is fuse . 8ravity again has the upper han . "he core collapses in an instant+ As the iron atoms are crushe together in this gravitational collapse3 the core temperature rises to about 1(( billion egrees. 2ut the repulsive electrical forces between the atoms7 nuclei overcome the gravitational forces3 causing a massive3 bright3 short, live e1plosion calle a supernova. 9uring the e1plosion3 shock waves3 blow away the star7s outer layers. "he ne1t stage epen s on the star7s remaining mass: ; 6f the star7s remaining mass is between 1 1<! to ) times the mass of the 'un3 it will collapse into a small3 ense neutron star (about ten miles in iameter an about 1.# ).! times the mass of the 'un3 with an e1traor inarily strong magnetic fiel 3 an rapi spin). ; 6f the star7s remaining mass is greater than three times the mass of the 'un3 the star contracts tremen ously an becomes a black hole (incre ibly ense with a gravitational fiel so strong that even light cannot escape).