Chapter 9

The Formation and

Structure of Stars

Star Formation
The following slides are from
a naturalistic viewpoint.
Blue stars are so hot they
would burn up before they
could become a million years
old
Star formation, which has
never been observed, is a
justification for the observably
young universe.

The Interstellar Medium (ISM)

The space between the stars is not
completely empty, but filled with very
dilute gas and dust, producing some of
the most beautiful objects in the sky.
We are interested in the
interstellar medium because
a) dense interstellar clouds are
the birth place of stars
b) dark clouds alter and absorb
the light from stars behind them

The Various Appearances of the ISM

Three kinds of nebulae

1) Emission Nebulae (HII Regions)
Hot star illuminates
a gas cloud;
excites and/or
ionizes the gas
(electrons kicked
into higher energy
states);
electrons
recombining, falling
back to ground
state produce
The Fox Fur Nebula
emission lines.

NGC
2246
The
Trifid
Nebula

2) Reflection Nebulae
Star illuminates gas and
dust cloud;
star light is reflected by
the dust;
reflection nebula appears
blue because blue light is
scattered by larger angles
than red light;

Same phenomenon makes

the day sky appear blue (if
its not cloudy).

Emission and Reflection Nebulae

3) Dark Nebulae

Dense clouds
of gas and
dust absorb
the light from
the stars
behind;
appear dark
in front of the
brighter
background;

Barnard 86
Horsehead Nebula

Interstellar Reddening
Blue light is strongly scattered and
absorbed by interstellar clouds
Red light can more easily
penetrate the cloud, but is
still absorbed to some extent

Infrared
radiation is
hardly absorbed
at all

Barnard 68

Visible

Interstellar
clouds make
background
stars appear
Infrared
redder

Interstellar Absorption Lines

The interstellar medium produces
absorption lines in the spectra of stars.
These can be
distinguished from stellar
absorption lines through:
a) Absorption from wrong
ionization states
b) Small line width (too
low temperature; too
low density)

c) Multiple components
(several clouds of ISM
with different radial
velocities)

Narrow absorption lines from Ca II: Too low

ionization state and too narrow for the O
star in the background; multiple components

Structure of the ISM

The ISM occurs in two main types of clouds:

HI clouds:
Cold (T ~ 100 K) clouds of neutral hydrogen (HI);
moderate density (n ~ 10 a few hundred atoms/cm3);
size: ~ 100 pc

Hot intercloud medium:

Hot (T ~ a few 1000 K), ionized hydrogen (HII);
low density (n ~ 0.1 atom/cm3);
gas can remain ionized because of very low density.

The Various Components of

the Interstellar Medium

Infrared observations reveal the

presence of cool, dusty gas.

X-ray observations reveal the

presence of hot gas.

Shocks Triggering
Star Formation
Henize 206
(infrared)

The Contraction of a Protostar

From Protostars
to Stars
Star emerges
from the
enshrouding
dust cocoon

Ignition of H
He
fusion
processes

Evidence of Star Formation

Nebula around
S Monocerotis:
Contains many massive,
very young stars,

including T Tauri Stars:

strongly variable; bright
in the infrared.

Protostellar Disks and Jets

Herbig-Haro Objects
Disks of matter accreted onto the protostar (accretion
disks) often lead to the formation of jets (directed
outflows; bipolar outflows): Herbig-Haro objects

Protostellar Disks and Jets

Herbig-Haro Objects (II)

Herbig-Haro Object HH34

Globules
Bok globules:
~ 10 1000
solar masses;
Contracting to
form protostars

Globules
Evaporating gaseous globules
(EGGs): Newly forming stars
exposed by the ionizing radiation
from nearby massive stars

The Source of Stellar Energy

Recall from our discussion of the sun:

Stars produce energy by nuclear fusion of

hydrogen into helium.

In the sun, this

happens
primarily
through the
proton-proton
(PP) chain

The CNO Cycle

In stars slightly
more massive
than the sun, a
more powerful
energy generation
mechanism than
the PP chain
takes over:

the CNO
cycle.

Fusion into Heavier Elements

Fusion into heavier elements than C, O:

requires very high

temperatures; occurs
only in very massive
stars (more than 8
solar masses).

Hydrostatic Equilibrium
Imagine a stars
interior composed of
individual shells

Within each shell, two

forces have to be in
equilibrium with each other:
Outward pressure
from the interior

Gravity, i.e. the

weight from all
layers above

Hydrostatic
Equilibrium (II)
Outward pressure force
must exactly balance the
weight of all layers
above everywhere in the
star.
This condition uniquely
determines the interior
structure of the star.
This is why we find stable
stars on such a narrow strip
(main sequence) in the
Hertzsprung-Russell diagram.

Energy Transport
Energy generated in the stars center must be transported to the surface.
Inner layers of the sun:

Radiative energy
transport

Outer layers of the

sun (including
photosphere):

Convection

Flow of energy

Stellar Structure
Energy transport
via convection

Sun

Energy transport
via radiation
Energy
generation via
nuclear fusion

Basically the same

structure for all stars
with approx. 1 solar
mass or less.

Temperature, density
and pressure decreasing

Stellar Models
The structure and evolution of a star is determined by the laws of
Hydrostatic equilibrium
Energy transport

Conservation of mass
Conservation of energy

A stars mass (and chemical

composition) completely
determines its properties.
Thats why stars initially all line up along the main sequence.

Interactions of Stars and

their Environment
Supernova explosions of
the most massive stars
inflate and blow away
remaining gas of star
forming regions.

Young, massive stars excite the

remaining gas of their star forming
regions, forming HII regions.

The Life of Main-Sequence Stars

Stars gradually
exhaust their
hydrogen fuel.

In this process of
aging, they are
gradually
becoming brighter,
evolving off the
zero-age main
sequence.

The Lifetimes of Stars

on the Main Sequence

The Orion Nebula:

An Active Star-Forming Region

The Trapezium
The 4 trapezium stars:
Only one of the
Brightest, very young
trapezium
Infrared image:
stars is
~ hot
50
(less than 2 million
very
enough
young,tocool,
ionize
lowyears
old)
stars
in
the
X-ray
image:
~
1000
hydrogen
massinstars
the Orion
central
region
ofstars
the
very young,
hot
nebula
Orion nebula

The Orion Nebula

Kleinmann-Low
nebula (KL): Cluster
of cool, young
protostars
detectable only in
the infrared

The BecklinNeugebauer object

(BN): Hot star, just
reaching the main
sequence

B3 B1
B1

O6

Spectral
types of the
trapezium
stars

Protostars with protoplanetary disks

Visual image of the Orion Nebula