The Birth and Death of Stars

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1 The Birth and Death of Stars 2013 Simulation Curriculum Teachers may make copies for their classes

2 Part 1: Stellar Cradles With a small telescope the central region of M42 reveals a group of at least four stars known as the Trapezium. At infrared wavelengths, which can penetrate the dust, hundreds more stars are revealed. Where did these stars come from and why are they hiding in a nebula? Let s look at another similar nebula. About seven thousands light years from Earth, M16, the Eagle Nebula in the constellation Serpens, is an easy target for small telescopes. You can easily find its location with any version of Starry Night. In M16 we again see a cloud of gas and dust associated with clusters of hot stars. Furthermore, astronomers have shown that these stars are very young -- between one and five million years old. Compare that with our Sun which is about five billion years of age! Apparently the dust and gas of this and similar nebulae forms stars.

3 The Hubble space telescope captured the inner region of the Eagle Nebula some years ago and the resulting stellar nursery was aptly named the Pillars of Creation. Image courtesy NASA and ESA Space is not empty. Atoms, molecules and larger particles are scattered throughout the cosmos and occasionally a shock wave and gravity cause these components to gather into huge clouds. Once enough material has come together, the cloud is dense enough to block light from stars behind it forming a dark nebula such as B 133 ) As the gravitational contraction continues in parts of the nebula, temperature and pressure begins to increase until they are great enough to support nuclear fusion of the major ingredient hydrogen. Each condensed portion is now well on the way to becoming a star.

4 The radiation from these newly born stars not only blows away any nearby gas but causes some, or all of the remaining nebular material to glow with the reddish color, the hallmark of the abundant hydrogen. But why are there different colors and types of stars? In Part 2 we ll examine how stars grow up and what causes them to be different. Part 2: The Lives of Stars In Part 1 we examined the birthplace of stars huge clouds of gas and dust found in interstellar space. But what happens to these stars once they begin nuclear fusion and become full-fledged members of the stellar community? It seems that after a short and somewhat turbulent childhood the star settles down as it consumes its nuclear fuel. During this adult phase, its size and luminosity remain relatively stable. Let s examine alpha Centauri, a star not unlike our own Sun. Situated in the southern constellation of Centaurus, it lies about 4.3 light years from our solar system. With a mass and luminosity slightly larger than the Sun, it is also about the same age, roughly 5 billion years. Like the Sun, it can probably look forward to another 5 billion years of blissful existence. Note: Alpha Centauri is actually a multiple star system. The reference here is to the brightest member, alpha Centauri A. It is interesting and instructive to locate a stars on a graph which shows luminosity or absolute magnitude on the vertical axis and surface temperature or spectral class on the horizontal axis. Such a graph is shown below. It is known as a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. Note that stars are not scattered at random but are gathered in distinct groups. The red line going from top left to bottom right represents the group known as the Main Sequence. Alpha Centauri is a Main Sequence star and remains there during its well-behaved adult life.

5 In contrast, Alnilam or epsilon Orionis, is a supergiant star forty times a massive and as luminous as the Sun. It is estimated to be only about four million years old but already near the end of its life! Note its position on the H-R diagram shown below. What is happening here? It turns out that the rate at which stars consume their nuclear fuel depends on their mass. The more massive the star, the faster it consumes its fuel. But what happens when the fuel runs out? Stay tuned: we ll look at how stars die in Part 3..

6 Part 3: Death of the Sun No, that's not an ancient Mayan prophecy but, according to astronomers, a scientific truth. Stars, like people, have a definite life span and like people, different stars have different life spans. In Part 2 we saw that during most of a star's life, it stays on the Main Sequence of the H-R Diagram as shown below. We also learned that how long a star lives depends on its mass. Stars like our Sun should live for about ten billion years. With the Sun's age estimated at five billion years, there is no need to panic yet! During most of its life, a star's stable existence is governed by two opposing forces. Gravity pulls the solar material inward, toward the center. Radiation pressure caused by the tremendous energy released during fusion pushes solar material outward. Once these two processes are in equilibrium, the star maintains a more-or-less uniform size and luminosity for a few billion years. But, eventually the nuclear fuel runs out the hydrogen in the core of the star has been fused to helium. The decrease in energy output causes the core to contract as gravity now triumphs over radiation pressure. Paradoxically, this causes the core to heat up. The star now expands and the much larger surface area decreases in temperature. No longer on the Main Sequence, the star has become a Red Giant. Eventually a high enough temperature is reached to cause the helium to fuse into carbon. Although life on Earth will become uncomfortable long before, drastic changes will happen as the Sun enters the Red Giant phase. The expanding atmosphere will first swallow Mercury and then may eventually expand beyond the orbit of the Earth. Rapid expansion of the solar atmosphere will cause a good portion of it to be blown out into space surrounding the remnants in a shell of gas called a planetary nebula. The central core, now the size of the Earth, becomes a white dwarf. It may shine for a trillion years as it slowly cools off to become a dark, cold mass. The night sky provides lots of examples of dying stars. Red giants, white dwarfs and planetary nebulae can be found in all parts of the sky...

7 Aldebaran, the brightest star in the constellation Taurus, is a star in the red giant phase. M57 is a planetary nebula in the constellation Lyra. Finder charts for these two objects are shown above.! Shown above, is a portrait of M57, the Ring nebula. It can be seen as a faint smoke ring in small telescopes. The central star has exhausted its supply of nuclear fuel and is on its way to becoming a white dwarf.

8 What is the fate of stars more massive than the Sun? Read on... Part 4: Death of Betelgeuse Located in the constellation Orion, this bright star is classified as a red supergiant as shown in the accompanying H-R diagram. Last month we saw that sun-like stars turn into red giants near the end of their life. A red supergiant must then be a more massive star near the end of its life. And indeed Betelgeuse may be as much as twenty times more massive as our Sun. Even though it may only be about 10 million years old, it has burned through its original hydrogen fuel at a tremendous pace and may only have a million years left to live. Compare that to the Sun's total life span of about ten billion years! Like the Sun's eventual fate, the core of Betelgeuse will contract and helium will fuse into heavier elements. But because of the increased mass, higher temperatures can be reached and fusion will not stop at carbon but continue on to iron. This is the end of the line for energy-creating fusion. As more iron builds up the core collapses in the blink of an eye along with the outer layers of the star. Eventually the core is so dense that electrons are forced into protons forming neutrons and further collapse is halted. The core rebounds and crashes into the outer layers of the collapsing star creating a burst of energy known as a Type II supernova. It is here that there is enough energy to fuse nuclei into heavier elements such as uranium.

9 Not only does the resulting supernova shine as brightly as an entire galaxy but a good portion of the original star is blown off into space. M1, the famous Crab Nebula, is the remnant of a supernova explosion that was recorded by Chinese astronomers in 1054 AD. made up of some Star Stuff. The expelled material mixes with interstellar hydrogen and helium and eventually will form a new generation of stars like our Sun. Our Earth owes its heavy elements to some supernova explosion long ago and we are all Left behind is a tiny but massive neutron star so dense that a teaspoon full of material weighs as much as a mountain. And, depending on the actual mass of this neutron star, further collapse is possible. This time, matter becomes so concentrated that gravity allows not even light to escape giving rise to a so-called black hole. So what happens when Betelgeuse goes supernova? Will life on earth be in danger? Based on its distance of about 600 light years, the supernova should be as bright as the Full Moon and be easily visible in the daytime sky. But astronomers assure us that no harmful effects will befall us. So there you have it. Stars are born in huge interstellar clouds of gas and dust, live their lives consuming some of these materials in thermonuclear furnaces and, in death, return these materials to eventually form the next stellar generation.

10 Questions 1. In what regions of space are stars born? 2. What supplies the initial energy to make the star glow? 3. What causes the typical red color of an emission nebula? 4. What is an H - R diagram? 5. What stars make up the Main Sequence of the H - R diagram? 6. What is the relationship between the mass of a star and its lifespan? 7. Will he Sun ever become a Red Giant? 8. What does the position of Betelgeuse tell us about the star? 9. What is the eventual fate of the Sun? 10. What will happen to a massive star like Betelgeuse near the end of its life?

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