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2005 K.Corbett
Life Cycle of Stars
2005 K.Corbett
3 categories of starsSun-sized stars
(up to 6 times the size of the sun)Huge stars
(6 - 30 times the size of the sun)Giant Stars
(over 30 times the size of the sun)
2005 K.Corbett
The life of Sun-sized stars
Born in a nebula (a cloud of gas and dust, mostly Hydrogen).
The star produces energy from nuclear fusion of Hydrogen into Helium.
This type of star lasts for about 10 billion years.
2005 K.Corbett
The death of Sun-sized stars
Once their fuel is used up, the core shrinks and the outer layers begin to expand forming a red giant.
Eventually, the star loses enough mass that it becomes a white dwarf.
White dwarfs continue to lose heat and eventually become black dwarfs.
2005 K.Corbett
The life of Huge stars
Born in a huge nebula (a cloud of gas and dust, mostly Hydrogen).
The star produces energy from nuclear fusion of Hydrogen into Helium.
This type of star uses up its fuel faster than sun-sized stars.
2005 K.Corbett
The death of Huge stars
Once their fuel is used up, the core shrinks and the outer layers begin to expand forming a super red giant.
Eventually, the star’s core collapses so much that it explodes in a supernova.
This size star will eventually become a neutron star - a star that has about 1.5 times the mass of our sun, but only about 10 km in diameter.
2005 K.Corbett
The life of Giant stars
Born in a huge nebula (a cloud of gas and dust, mostly Hydrogen).
The star produces energy from nuclear fusion of Hydrogen into Helium.
This type of star uses up its fuel faster than sun-sized stars, only living a few million years.
2005 K.Corbett
The death of Giant stars
Once their fuel is used up, the core shrinks and the outer layers begin to expand forming a super red giant.
Eventually, the star’s core collapses so much that it explodes in a supernova.
This size star will collapse on itself so much that it’s gravity takes over completely and not even light can escape. It becomes a black hole.
2005 K.Corbett9
Old Age of Massive StarsSupernova Remnants
The huge, glowing cloud of debris that expands from a supernova explosion sweeping up interstellar material as it goes is called a supernova remnant
Supernova remnants have a more ragged look compared to planetary and other nebulas
Two well-known supernova remnantsCrab Nebula – Visual outburst witnessed by
astronomers in China in 1054 A.D.Supernova 1987A – Most recent visual
supernova and a rare blue supergiant explosion
2005 K.Corbett
2005 K.Corbett
Properties of StarsAstronomers classify stars by their
color, size, and brightness. Other properties of stars are chemical composition and mass.
Color and Temperature – a stars color indicates the temperature of its’ surface.
The hottest stars appear blueThe cooler stars appear redThe spectrum of color in a star is
from blues to greens to yellows and reds.
2005 K.Corbett
Brightness The brightness of a star as viewed from
Earth is dependent on many factors such as color intensity and distance.
Apparent Brightness/Magnitude – is the brightness of a star as it appears from Earth.
The apparent brightness decreases as its distance from you increases
Absolute Brightness/Magnitude – is how bright a star really is. The absolute brightness is a characteristic of the star and is not dependent on its distance from Earth.
2005 K.Corbett
Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram
2005 K.Corbett
Main Sequence Stars
A major grouping of stars that forms a narrow band from the upper left to the lower right when plotted according to luminosity and surface temperature on the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram
2005 K.Corbett
Types of StarsClassification
Class Temperature Color
O 20,000- 60,000 K Blue
B 10,000 – 30,000 K Blue-white
A 7,500 – 10,000 K White
F 6,000 – 7,500 K Yellow-white
G 5,000 – 6,000 K Yellow
K 3,500 – 5,000 K Orange
M 2,000 – 3,500 K Red
