The Stars

Chapter 14
Great Idea: The Sun and other stars use nuclear fusion reactions to convert mass into energy. Eventually, when a stars nuclear fuel is depleted, the star must burn out.

Chapter Outline
The The The The Nature of Stars Anatomy of Stars Variety of Stars Life Cycles of Stars

The Nature of Stars

The Nature of Stars

Astronomy
Oldest science

Star
Fusion reactor in space Ball of gas

All stars have a beginning and an ending

Measuring the Stars with Telescopes and Satellites

Electromagnetic radiation Measurement of photons
Wavelength Intensity Direction Variation

Telescopes

Orbiting Observatories
Great Observatories Program
Hubble Space Telescope Spitzer Infrared Telescope Chandra X-Ray Observatory

The Anatomy of Stars

The Structure of the Sun

Structure
Stellar core Convection zone Photosphere Chromosphere Corona

Solar Wind
Stream of particles

The Suns Energy Source: Fusion

Suns Energy Source
Historical Current
hydrogen

Fusion
3-steps-hydrogen burning
1) P + P D + e+ + neutrino + energy 2) D + P 3He + photon + energy 3) 3He + 3He 4He + 2protons + photon + energy

Life expectancy
11 billion years

The Variety of Stars

Differences
Color Brightness
Distance Absolute brightness
Energy output luminosity

Apparent brightness

Behavior
Total mass age

The Astronomical Distance Scale

Time
Light-years

Measurement
Triangulation Cepheid variable

The Hertzsprung-Russel Diagram

Star Groupings
Main-sequence stars Red giants White dwarfs

The Life Cycles of Stars

The Birth of Stars

Nebular Hypothesis
Laplace

The Main Sequence and the Death of Stars

Stars much less massive than the sun
Brown dwarf Glows 100 billion years
No change in size, temperature, energy output

The Main Sequence and the Death of Stars

Stars about the mass of the sun
Hydrogen burning at faster rate
Move off main sequence

Helium burning Red giant Begin collapse White dwarf

The Main Sequence and the Death of Stars

Very Large Stars
Successive collapses and burnings Iron core Catastrophic collapse
supernova

Neutron Stars and Pulsars

Neutron Star
Dense and small High rotation rate Little light

Pulsar
Special neutron star Electromagnetic radiation End state of supernova

Black Holes
Black Hole
Result of collapse large star Nothing escapes from surface Cannot see them
See impact on other stars Detect x-rays, gamma rays