The Life Cycle of Mid-Size Stars

Introduction
A star is a massive glowing ball of gas composed of hydrogen, helium, and several other elements.
Trillions of stars exist throughout the universe, and like any living organism, they follow a life cycle. Stars
come into existence, stay alive for billions of years, and eventually die out. Most stars (including our sun)
go through the same processes during their life cycle. Stars first form when a protostar comes into being
from a nebula. After this critical step, they continue to heat up until they become a main sequence star,
where they spend the majority of their lives. Then the star expands into a red giant, becomes a
planetary nebula, and shrinks into a white dwarf, where they die out after a period of time. In this
document, each of these processes will be greatly expanded upon and all terms that might sound
foreign will be thoroughly defined.

Nuclear Fusion
Before going into greater detail about the life cycle of stars, one process that will be mentioned several
times is nuclear fusion. Nuclear fusion is how stars generate their energy and is a process that can only
be completed at temperatures of 10 million degrees Kelvin or higher. The vast majority of fusion that
stars conduct is hydrogen-helium fusion (although it is possible to fuse heavier elements), in which two
different types of hydrogen (deuterium and tritium) combine to form helium, creating energy in the
process. Figure 1 shows a simplified diagram of nuclear fusion. Note that it is not vital to understand the
specifics of this process, it is only important to recognize that this is how stars manufacture their energy.

Figure 1. Nuclear Fusion.

https://peakoil.com/alternative-energy/nuclear-fusion-gets-boost-from-private-sector-startups.
Protostar Formation
The first step in the life cycle of a star is its creation. This creation occurs when a nebula, an immensely
large interstellar cloud of gas and dust, collapses in on itself due to gravity and begins to rotate. As the
cloud spins and heats up, the material in the nebula condenses and a protostar is formed. A protostar is
similar to a normal star, but its core is not yet hot enough to conduct nuclear fusion. This protostar is
surrounded by a protostellar disk, a strong magnetic field, and two high-speed jets of gas (which are
expelled into space). Figure 2 shows a rough depiction of a protostar within a nebula, accompanied by
its disk and jets. For a star around the size of our sun, the protostar phase would last approximately
100,000 years.

Figure 2. Protostar Formation.

https://lco.global/spacebook/stars/protostar/

Main Sequence Stars

The end of the protostar phase is marked by the core of the star being hot enough to undergo nuclear
fusion reactions, specifically hydrogen-helium fusion. The commencement of this process is what
classifies stars as being in their main sequence phase. Main sequence is a term that applies to stars with
at least 0.1 times the mass of the sun and no more than 200 times the mass of the sun. About 90
percent of the stars in the universe, including the sun, are main sequence stars. These stars continuously
conduct fusion reactions until the hydrogen in their cores runs out, at which point they become red
giants. Main sequence stars vary greatly in lifespan, as a star equal in mass to the sun will stay in this
phase for around 10 billion years, while a star 10 times as massive will only live for 20 million years and a
star half as massive will live between 80 and 100 billion years. The sun, for example, has been
conducting hydrogen-helium fusion for close to 4.5 billion years and should last another 5 billion or so
before becoming a red giant.
Red Giants
The red giant is the first phase of a dying star. In this phase, stars, being depleted of hydrogen in their
cores, attempt to conduct nuclear fusion increasingly farther from their centers, with some success.
These stars may even reach a point where they are hot enough to fuse helium into carbon. This process
can be sustained for anywhere from a few thousand to a billion years, at which point the star completely
runs out of elements it can fuse. However, during this period the temperature of the outer layers of the
star increases greatly from this fusion, causing the star to expand. Red giants typically have a diameter
between 100 to 1,000 times that of the sun, and are remarkably cooler than their main sequence form,
only being about half as hot on the surface due to their decreased density. This decrease in temperature
causes the stars to appear red and is what gives red giants their name.

Planetary Nebulae
Once the core of a red giant has run out of helium, the star shrinks until a new layer of helium reaches
the core, igniting and causing the outer layers of the star to be blown off in huge clouds of gas and dust.
These clouds are what are referred to as planetary nebulae. Despite the name, planetary nebulae have
nothing to do with planets. Planetary nebulae are much larger and fainter than their parent stars, and
they last a few tens of thousands of years before dissipating into space. It is important to note that only
stars having up to 8 times the mass of the sun become planetary nebulae (anything larger experiences
an explosion, called a supernova, after its red giant phase and then becomes a black hole or neutron
star, which is a very small and dense star). Figure 3 shows a depiction of what a planetary nebula looks
like, as well as a general overview of the life cycle of small and medium stars, which includes stars with
1/3 to 8 times the mass of our sun.

Figure 3. Star Life Cycle.

https://socratic.org/questions/what-are-the-stages-in-the-life-cycle-of-a-small-star
White Dwarves
Keeping with the theme of stars up to 8 times the mass of the sun, the only thing that remains after a
star has ejected all of its outer layers is its core. This core is referred to as a white dwarf and no longer
conducts fusion in any way. When the sun eventually becomes a white dwarf, its radius will be about
0.01 times what it was during its main sequence phase, but its mass will be about the same, meaning
that these stars are incredibly dense. Although white dwarves are not actively producing energy, they
continue to radiate heat for tens of billions of years until they cool off completely. At this point, it is
theorized that they become black dwarves, stars that are essentially invisible due to their low
temperature. However, the universe is not yet old enough for the oldest white dwarves to have died
out, so black dwarves remain conceptual in nature.

Conclusion
Stars are one of the most basic sources of energy in the universe. Now we know that stars similar to our
sun begin as a nebula, form into a protostar, become a main sequence star, expand into a red giant,
expel matter as a planetary nebula, and spend the rest of their lives as a white dwarf. Stars are also very
important to the universe. For example, our closest star, the sun, is critical for sustaining life on Earth,
and it is possible that other stars serve this same purpose. Knowing the life cycle of stars and the
processes they go through helps astronomers comprehend the nature of the universe and helps
physicists understand much more about how fusion reactions work. So, while stars may have once
seemed obscure and complicated, hopefully the concept of their life cycle is much more clear now than
it was before.
References
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www.universetoday.com/122807/why-do-red-giants-expand/.

“Nuclear Fusion Gets Boost from Private-Sector Startups.” Peak Oil News and Message Boards, Peak Oil,
28 Jan. 2016, peakoil.com/alternative-energy/nuclear-fusion-gets-boost-from-private-sector-
startups.

“Protostar.” Las Cumbres Observatory, Las Cumbres Observatory,

lco.global/spacebook/stars/protostar/.

Redd, Nola Taylor. “Planetary Nebula: Gas and Dust, and No Planets Involved.” Space.com, Space, 9 May
2016, www.space.com/17715-planetary-nebula.html.

Redd, Nola Taylor. “Main Sequence Stars: Definition & Life Cycle.” Space.com, Space, 24 Feb. 2018,
www.space.com/22437-main-sequence-stars.html.

“The Life Cycle of a Star.” Futurism, Futurism, 9 Jan. 2019, futurism.com/the-life-cycle-of-a-star.

“What Are the Stages in the Life Cycle of a Small Star?” Socratic.org, Socratic, 13 Mar. 2018,
socratic.org/questions/what-are-the-stages-in-the-life-cycle-of-a-small-star.