Lecture 18 ISP205 Visions of the Universe

Today: Surveying the Stars & Star Stuff

Off the Main Sequence

Stellar properties depend on both mass and age

Stars that have nished fusing H to He in their cores are no longer on the main sequence. All stars become larger and redder after exhausting their core hydrogen: giants and supergiants. Most stars end up small and white after fusion has ceased: white dwarfs.

Star clusters

Globular cluster: Up to a million or more stars in a dense ball bound together by gravity

Open cluster: A few thousand loosely packed stars

How old are the Pleiades?

A D B

Which of these stars can be no more than 10 million years old?

Main-sequence turnoff

The Pleiades star cluster now has no stars with a life expectancy less than around 100 million years.

The mainsequence turnoff point of a cluster tells us its age.

Stellar births, lives and deaths

Star-Forming Clouds

Stars form in dark clouds of dusty gas in interstellar space

Gravity Versus Pressure

Gravity within a contracting gas cloud becomes stronger as the gas becomes denser. Gravity can create stars only if it can overcome the force of thermal pressure in a cloud. The cloud can prevent a buildup of thermal pressure by converting thermal energy into infrared and radio photons that escape the cloud.

Fragmentation of a Cloud

The simulation begins with a turbulent gas cloud containing 50 Msun of gas

Random motions in the cloud cause it to become lumpy. If gravity can overcome pressure in these dense regions, they can collapse to form even denser lumps of matter

The large clouds fragments into many smaller lumps of matter. Each lump can go on to form one or more new stars

Glowing Dust Grains

infrared

visible

As stars begin to form, dust grains that absorb visible light heat up and emit infrared light.

Thought Question
What would happen to a contracting cloud fragment if it were not able to radiate away its thermal energy? A. It would continue contracting, but its temperature would not change. B. Its mass would increase. C. Its internal pressure would increase.

Cloud heats up as gravity causes it to contract due to conservation of energy. Contraction can continue if thermal energy is radiated away.

Protostar to Main Sequence

A protostar contracts and heats until the core temperature is sufcient for hydrogen fusion. Contraction ends when energy released by hydrogen fusion balances energy radiated from the surface. It takes 30 million years for a star like the Sun (less time for more massive stars).
Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Protostar to Main Sequence

How massive are newborn stars?

A cluster of many stars can form out of a single cloud.

Very massive stars are rare.

Low-mass stars are common.

Upper Limit on a Stars Mass

Very massive stars are so luminous that the collective pressure of photons drives their matter into space. Observations have not found stars more massive than about 300 MSun.
Pistol Star; Credit: Don F. Figer (UCLA) and NASA

Lower Limit on a Stars Mass

If M > 0.08 Msun : Gravitational contraction heats the core until fusion begins (Temperature above 107 K). Energy generated by fusion provides thermal pressure to stop the collapse (star). If M < 0.08 Msun : Core must collapse to higher densities to reach temperature for H fusion. Degeneracy pressure stops gravitational collapse before the core temperature becomes hot enough for fusion.

Degeneracy Pressure: Laws of quantum mechanics prohibit two electrons from occupying the same state in the same place.

Thermal Pressure: Depends on heat content The main form of pressure in most stars Degeneracy Pressure: Particles cant be in same state in same place Doesnt depend on heat content

Brown Dwarfs

Starlike objects (M < 0.08 Msun ca. 80 MJupiter) not massive enough to start fusion are brown dwarfs.

Brown Dwarfs in Orion

Brown dwarfs emit infrared light because of heat left over from contraction. Infrared observations can reveal recently formed brown dwarfs because they are still relatively warm and luminous.

Stars more massive than 300MSun would blow apart.

Stars less massive than 0.08MSun cant sustain fusion.

Life stages of a low-mass star (M < 2 Msun)

Protostar, 30 million years

Yellow main sequence star, 10 billion years

Red giant Helium corestar, 1 fusion star, billion years 120 million years

Double shell fusion red giant, 30 million years

Planetary White nebula, dwarf 10,000 years

A star remains on the main sequence as long as it can fuse hydrogen into helium in its core.

Thought Question
What happens when a star can no longer fuse hydrogen to helium in its core?

A. Its core cools off. B. Its core shrinks and heats up. C. Its core expands and heats up. D. Helium fusion immediately begins.

Helium fusion does not begin right away because it requires higher temperatures than hydrogen fusion ( 100 million K vs. 10 million K ) - larger charge leads to greater repulsion.

Life Track After Main Sequence

Observations of star clusters show that a star becomes larger, redder, and more luminous after its time on the main sequence is over.

Broken Thermostat
As the core contracts, H begins fusing to He in a shell around the core. Energy from H fusion in shell causes star to expand and cool (red giant phase) H-burning shell makes more He, which is dumped into the inert core Core contracts further due to added weight H-shell burning accelerates with time

Helium Flash
Ignition of He core happens very quickly (helium ash) The thermostat is broken in a low-mass red giant because degeneracy pressure supports the core. The core temperature rises rapidly when helium fusion begins. The helium fusion rate skyrockets until thermal pressure takes over and expands the core again.

Helium Core-Fusion Star

Helium core-fusion stars neither shrink nor grow because the core thermostat is temporarily xed.

Models show that a red giant should shrink and become less luminous after helium fusion begins in the core.

Life Track After Helium Flash

Observations of star clusters agree with these models. Helium core-fusion stars are found in a horizontal branch on the H-R diagram.

Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Thought Question

What happens when a stars core runs out of helium? A. The star explodes. B. Carbon fusion begins. C. The core cools off. D. Helium fuses in a shell around the core.

Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Double Shell Fusion

After core helium fusion stops, He fuses into carbon in a shell around the carbon core, and H fuses to He in a shell around the helium layer. Star becomes very cool & luminous, expansing in size (looks big and red again) Gravity is very weak at stellar surface, leading to mass loss through strong stellar wind Continuing contraction of the core leads to greater and greater luminosity. However, never gets hot enough to burn carbon core
Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Planetary Nebulae
(misleading name) Double shellfusion ends with a pulse that ejects the H and He into space as a planetary nebula. The core left behind becomes a white dwarf.

Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

White dwarf is very dense - Suns mass in the size of Earth Very hot - 20,000 K But not internal energy generation

Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Radiation from white dwarf ionizes ejected gas which radiates as planetary nebula

Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

End of Fusion
Fusion progresses no further in a low-mass star because the core temperature never grows hot enough for fusion of heavier elements (some He fuses to C to make oxygen). Degeneracy pressure supports the white dwarf against gravity.

Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Life Track of a Sun-Like Star

Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.