SEMINAR ON

DEATH OF STARS
PRESENTED BY MEHJABIN ABDURRAZAQUE 16TH SEPTEMBER, 2011

CONTENTS

What is a Star??? Birth of a star and evolution to the main sequence

Luminous sphere of superheated gas

Luminous markers of the distribution of dark matter mass End states of a star Basic things that gravity produces in the universe

BIRTH OF A STAR
Space is filled with thinly spread gas and dust This is called Interstellar Medium (ISM) Gas Hydrogen the simplest, lightest and most abundant element Dust mostly microscopic grains of carbon and silicon

BIRTH OF A STAR
Some regions of ISM are relatively denser called Nebulae Due to gravity, the nebula materials are pulled to each other to form small clouds Heat begins to store in each clouds

Cloud spins into a flattened disc

Gravity turns its centre into a sphere heated up to 2 million degrees of Fahrenheit

This glowing system is called a protostar

BIRTH OF STARS

H2 core of protostar

10 million years

1,80,00,000 0 F

Core becomes hot and can sustain THERMONUCLEAR FUSION

18 million degrees of Fahrenheit

stars life is a constant battle against gravity from nuclear fusion = gravitational collapse HYDROSTATIC EQUILIBRIUM

Pressure

Now

the star is in the Main Sequence

No more hydrogen

Fusion stops

Gravity wins over Higher temperature Our sun will reach this point after 5 pressure billion years

BEGINNING OF THE END

Higher the mass
Higher the fusion rate

After 5 billion years, gravity wins over the sun

Crushing of the core increases its temperature above 180 million degrees of Fahrenheit Fusion of helium 4 into carbon and oxygen begins This phenomena is called triple alpha process

Immense heat of helium fusion swells the outer layer

RED GIANT

Cosmic burst

Planetary nebula

Now no more nuclear reactions

Again gravity wins over

Surprise.!!! The core got a ledge against gravity ELECTRONS Contraction is opposed by electron degeneracy pressure according to law of electrostatics
Gravitational collapse cease and core can continue this state for millions of years The sun attains at the dimension of the earth

Now the core is a WHITE DWARF Stars of 4 solar masses or higher Density 1,000,000 times than water Low luminosity, high temperature No more nuclear reactions Compact structure resists gravity Have thermal energy from the non-degenerate ions When thermal energy is over, turned into a Black Dwarf
He

core of 0.5 1.0 solar mass

C and O

Some white dwarfs have one more state -White dwarf in a binary system

WD gravitationally WD exerts strong gravity on objects bound to another star

It siphons off hydrogen from its companion star

WD grows in mass
Mass 1.4 M
catastrophic explosion

CHANDRASEKHAR LIMIT

Supernova type 1a

DEATH OF MASSIVE STARS

Stars 8 or 10 times heavier than sun

Ashes of a nuclear reaction provides the fuel for next

Hydrogen > Helium Helium > Carbon > Oxygen Oxygen > Neon, Magnesium > Silicon, Sulphur At last, Iron

Iron fusion is endothermic Gravity wins over

NEUTRON STAR

Dimension half of the earth is reached

Colossal explosion into Supernova type 2

Still, the core remains

Gravity pulls electrons and protons to neutrons

Now core opposes gravity with neutron pressure

DEATH OF STARS
Stars 25 or 40 times massive than the sun

They are collapsed into a BLACK HOLE!!!

A kind of SINGULARITY large mass squeezed into zero volume infinite density high gravity escape velocity greater than c = 3x108 m/s

What if we have lots of matter in one place?

Imagine you are driving up a steep hill.
There is some steepness that is too much for your car to manage, even at its fastest. In the same way, if we have a very large amount of matter in a very small area, the curvature becomes so strong that not even light (perhaps the fastest thing in the universe) is fast enough to get out.

This is a black hole.

A black hole cannot suck up everything

BLACK HOLE An object comfortably far away SUCKS UP on a proper trajectory EVERYTHING is not sucked up by black holes

SUMMARY
Determinants of the final stage of stars

Forces holding up a star against gravity 1. Mass Higher the mass, higher the fusion rate 1. Pressure gradient of superheated gas main sequence less lifetime 2. Electron degeneracy pressure white dwarf 2. Member of a binary system
3. Compact structure black dwarf

4. Neutron pressure due to repulsion neutron star

SUMMARY

SUMMARY
WHITE DWARF BLACK DWARF BINARY SUPERNOVA TYPE 1a

STAR

RED GIANT

NEUTRON STAR
OR BLACK HOLE

NOVA EXPLOSION