LIFE CYCLE OF STARS

M. YAZDAN ZUHAD
  STELLAR EVOLUTION
Stars are born in nebulae, which are giant clouds of gas (mainly
hydrogen) and dust that float in space. Stars can have a life span of
millions, or even billions, of years. The biggest stars have the
shortest lives, because they consume their nuclear fuel (hydrogen)
at a very accelerated rate. Other stars, like the Sun, burn fuel at a
slower rate and may live some 10 billion years. Many times, a
star's size indicates its age. Smaller stars are the youngest, and
bigger stars are approaching their end, either through cooling or by
exploding as a supernova.
M. YAZDAN ZUHAD
  STELLAR EVOLUTION

The evolution of a star depends on its mass. The smallest

ones, like the Sun, have relatively long and modest lives.
Such a star begins to burn helium when its hydrogen is
depleted. In this way, its external layers begin to swell until
the star turns into a red giant. It ends its life as white
dwarfs, eventually fading away completely, ejecting
remaining outer layers, and forming a planetary nebula.
M. YAZDAN ZUHAD
  STELLAR EVOLUTION

A massive star, because of its higher density, can form

elements heavier than helium from its nuclear reactions. In
the final stage of its life, its core collapses and the star
explodes. All that remains is a hyperdense remnant, a
neutron star. The most massive stars end by forming
black holes.

M. YAZDAN ZUHAD
 The Life of Small Stars
(Small stars have a mass up to 0.5 to 8 times that of the Sun)

M. YAZDAN ZUHAD
  STAGE 1

Stars are born in a region of high density nebula, a cloud of

gas and dust collapses because of gravitational forces. In
doing so it heats up and divides into smaller clouds and
condenses into a huge globule of gas and dust and contracts
under its own gravity. Each one of these clouds will form a
protostar.

M. YAZDAN ZUHAD
  STAGE 2

A region of condensing matter will begin to heat up and

start to glow forming Protostar. A protostar has a dense,
gaseous core surrounded by a cloud of dust. Gravitational
effects cause its core to rotate. If a protostar contains
enough matter the central temperature reaches 15 million
degrees centigrade.

M. YAZDAN ZUHAD
  STAGE 3
At this temperature, nuclear reactions in which hydrogen fuses
to form helium can start and a star is finally born. The star
begins to release energy, stopping it from contracting even
more and causes it to shine. It is now a Main Sequence Star.
When The star shines and slowly consumes its hydrogen, it
begins to fuse helium as its size increases. A star of one solar
mass remains in main sequence for about 10 billion years,
until all of the hydrogen has fused to form helium.
M. YAZDAN ZUHAD
  STAGE 4

The helium core now starts to contract further and reactions

begin to occur in a shell around the core. The star continues to
expand, but its mass remains constant and its core heats up.
The core is hot enough for the helium to fuse to form carbon.
When the star's helium is depleted, it fuses carbon and oxygen.
The outer layers begin to expand, cool and shine less brightly.
The expanding star is now called a Red Giant.

M. YAZDAN ZUHAD
  STAGE 5

The helium core runs out and star’s fuel is depleted, its
core condenses, and the outer layers detached, expelling
gases in an expanding shell of gases. The outer layers drift
of away from the core as a gaseous shell, this gas that
surrounds the core is called a Planetary Nebula.

M. YAZDAN ZUHAD
  STAGE 6
The star remains surrounded by gases and is dim. The
remaining core (that’s 80% of the original star) is now in its
final stages. The core becomes a White Dwarf, the star
eventually cools and dims.

When a white dwarf stops shining or fades out completely,

it becomes a dead star and called a Black Dwarf.

M. YAZDAN ZUHAD
 The Life of Massive Stars
(Massive stars have a mass more than 8 times that of the Sun)

M. YAZDAN ZUHAD
  STAGE 1- 4

Massive stars evolve in a similar way to a small stars until it

reaches its main sequence stage (see small stars, stages 1-
4). The stars shine steadily until the hydrogen has fused to
form helium ( it takes billions of years in a small star, but
only millions in a massive star).

M. YAZDAN ZUHAD
  STAGE 5

The star swells and heats up. Through nuclear reactions, a

heavy core of iron is formed. The massive star then
becomes a Red Supergiant. The massive star is much
bigger in its expanding stage.

M. YAZDAN ZUHAD
  STAGE 6
In the next million years a series of nuclear reactions occur
forming different elements in shells around the iron core.
When the star can no longer fuse any more elements, its core
collapses, causing a strong emission of energy. The core
collapses in less than a second, causing an explosion called
a Supernova, in which a shock wave blows of the outer layers
of the star. The actual supernova shines brighter than the entire
galaxy for a short time.
M. YAZDAN ZUHAD
  STAGE 7
Sometimes the core survives the explosion. If the surviving core is
between 1.5 - 3 solar masses it contracts to become a tiny, very
dense Neutron Star. OR If the star's initial mass is between eight
and 20 solar masses, it ends up as a Neutron Star.

If the core is much greater than 3 solar masses, the core contracts
to become a Black Hole. OR If the star's initial mass is 20 solar
masses or more, its nucleus is denser and it turns into a Black
Hole, whose gravitational force is extremely strong.
M. YAZDAN ZUHAD
M. YAZDAN ZUHAD
 SOME LINKS TO WATCH

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFO_bsg1sw8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9PrMA5IJt0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG-ukUB_sQU

M. YAZDAN ZUHAD
 TYPES OF STARS

1. Nebula. 7. White Dwarf.

2. Protostar. 8. Black Dwarf.
3. Red Giant. 9. Neutron Star.
4. Supergiant. 10. Pulsar.
5. Planetary Nebula. 11. Quasar.
6. Supernova.

M. YAZDAN ZUHAD