Astronomy 101 November 2nd Notes

Applying classical mechanics, the sun couldn't shine. Made it difficult to find out
why Sun shines
Chain reaction for the energy source of the Sun:
Step 1: p + p --> d + e+ + ve
d = deuterium Heavy hydrogen nucleus with a proton and a neutron (twice the
mass of hydrogen since there's one more neutron)
e+= positron which has the mass of electron but postive charge
ve = neutrino: particles with low mass which don't interact with other particles very
much at all
Heavy water is H2O with deuterium so D2O
Step 2: d + p --> 3He + y
y = gamma ray (photon of very high energy)
Step 2 Repeats
Step 3: 3He + 3He --> 4He + 2p
Advantages of fusion:
Sustainable energy source, no emission of greenhouse gases, no risk of a severe
accident, no long-lived radioactive waste
1038 reactions per second occur in the Sun
5 million tonnes of the Sun's gas are annihilated every second
Sun will lose only 0.07% of its total mass during its lifetime
formation of the solar system
Collapsing cloud has some initial net spin (angular momentum)
As the nubla collapses under its own gravity, it spins faster and flattens into a disk.
L=MvR