PH2910A/28

Royal Holloway and Bedford New College 2001

UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
BSc and MSci EXAMINATION 2001
For Internal Students of
Royal Holloway
DO NOT TURN OVER UNTIL TOLD TO BEGIN
PH2910A: STELLAR ASTROPHYSICS
Time Allowed: TWO hours
Answer QUESTION ONE and TWO other questions
No credit will be given for attempting any further questions
Approximate part-marks for questions are given in the right-hand margin
Only CASIO fx85WA Calculators are permitted
GENERAL PHYSICAL CONSTANTS
Permeability of vacuum
0
= 4 10
-7
H m
-1
Permittivity of vacuum
0
= 8.85 10
-12
F m
-1
1/4
0
= 9.0 10
9
m F
-1
Speed of light in vacuum c = 3.00 10
8
m s
-1
Elementary charge e = 1.60 10
-19
C
Electron (rest) mass m
e
= 9.11 10
-31
kg
Unified atomic mass constant m
u
= 1.66 10
-27
kg
Proton rest mass m
p
= 1.67 10
-27
kg
Neutron rest mass m
n
= 1.67 10
-27
kg
Ratio of electronic charge to mass e/m
e
= 1.76 10
11
C kg
-1
Planck constant h = 6.63 10
-34
J s
h = h/2
= 1.05 10
-34
J s
Boltzmann constant k = 1.38 10
-23
J K
-1
Stefan-Boltzmann constant

= 5.67 10
-8
W m
-2
K
-4
Gas constant R = 8.31 J mol
-1
K
-1
Avogadro constant N
A
= 6.02 10
23
mol
-1
Gravitational constant G = 6.67 10
-11
N m
2
kg
-2
Acceleration due to gravity g = 9.81 m s
-2
Volume of one mole of an ideal gas at STP = 2.24 10
-2
m
3
One standard atmosphere P
0
= 1.01 10
5
N m
-2
MATHEMATICAL CONSTANTS
e 2.718 3.142 log
e
10 2.303
page 1 PH2910A
PART
MARKS
TURN OVER
ANSWER ONLY FIVE sections of Question One.
You are advised not to spend more than 40 minutes answering Question One.
1. (a) A hydrogen cloud is studied with radio waves of wavelength 0.21m. If
the full-width at half-maximum of the 0.21m line is observed to
be m 10 2
6
, estimate the temperature of the cloud.
[4]
(b) Write down an energy equation that will determine whether a hydrogen
cloud will collapse to a star.
Estimate the radius of a cloud of mass kg 10 2
30
, and temperature 60 K,
if it is to collapse.
[4]
(c)
If the angular momentum of a rotating sphere has the form
2
5
2
MR L ,
discuss its significance in the formation of stars. How might any problem
be resolved?
[4]
(d) On a Herzsprung-Russell diagram draw the track of a cloud that ends up
as a star on the Main Sequence and explain the stages. [4]
(e) Explain how the Big Bang led to the existence of primordial helium.
Show how an estimate of the final mass proportion has been made. [4]
(f)
Derive an expression for the Schwarzschild radius R
g
.
Estimate R
g
for Mars

,
_

kg 10 4 6 mass
23
.
[4]
2. Explain how observations of the Interstellar Medium have indicated the
existence of:
(a) drifting clouds at 100 K
(b) atomic hydrogen
(c) molecules
(d) grains of dust
(e) Intercloud Medium at 10,000 K
What conclusion can be drawn from the coexistence of clouds at 100 K
with Intercloud Medium at 10,000 K?
[4]
[4]
[2]
[4]
[2]
[4]
page 2 PH2910A
PART
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TURN OVER
3. Describe the proton-proton (ppI) fusion cycle in stars.
The energy production rate may be written as
dE
E
b
kT
E
kT
C
ab

'

,
_

2
1
exp
) (
0
2
3
Explain the meaning of this equation.
Obtain an expression for the energy of the Gamow peak.
Draw a graph to illustrate the importance of temperature for the proton-
proton and carbon cycle reaction rates.
What is meant by silicon burning? State the atomic mass number at
which the process ceases and explain the reason.
[4]
[4]
[4]
[4]
[4]
4. Describe the major component of the Suns atmosphere.
Explain whether one expects to observe emission or absorption spectra
from hot stars.
How deeply beneath the Suns surface can one expect observations to
probe?
For a neutral atom at a given temperature, explain how the relative
occupation of excited states can be estimated from the Boltzmann
distribution.
Sahas equation is
, 48 . 1 log
2
log log 5 . 2
10
log
1
10 10
5040
1

,
_

,
_

+
+ +
+
e
P
g
g
T E
N
n
n
n
T
n
n
N
where P
e
is the electron pressure, and

E
n
is in electron volts.
Explain what values you would give to the statistical weights for (i)
neutral atoms, (ii) positive ions and (iii) negative ions.
For a stellar atmosphere at 7800 K, consisting of hydrogen with an
electron pressure of 6.5 Nm
2
, estimate the ratio of neutral atoms to
positive ions. [The ionisation energy for hydrogen in 13.6eV].
[2]
[4]
[2]
[4]
[4]
[4]
page 3 PH2910A
PART
MARKS
END PRE
5. Explain why some stars become supernovae rather than White Dwarves. [2]
Discuss the magnitude of the energy release in a supernova. [2]
Give a simple description of what happens in a supernova. [4]
Describe briefly the supernova SN1987A. [2]
Give an account of observations made at that time (1987) with a large
tank of water. [4]
Explain the significance of these observations. [2]
Why were luminosity measurements taken over several years important? [4]