Composition of Stars

During ancient times and the Middle Ages stars were thought to be made of an ethereal element different
from matter on Earth. Their actual composition did not become known until the invention of the
spectroscope in the 19th century. Through the refraction of light by a prism or through its diffraction by a
diffraction grating, the light from a source is spread out into its different visual wavelengths, from red to
blue. This is known as its spectrum. The spectra of the Sun and stars exhibited bright and dark lines
called Fraunhofer lines. These were shown to be caused by elements emitting or absorbing light at
specific wavelengths. Because each element emits or absorbs light only at specific wavelengths, the
chemical composition of stars can be determined.
In this way the spectroscope demonstrated that the gases in the Sun and stars are those of common
elements such as hydrogen, helium, iron, and calcium, but at temperatures of several thousand degrees.
It was found that the average star's atmosphere consists mostly of hydrogen (87%) and helium (10%),
with all other elements making up about 3%. Helium was actually first discovered in the Sun's spectrum.
Radiation in a spectrum line originates only from the uppermost, coolest layers of a star's atmosphere,
while radiation in the rest of the spectrum originates from much deeper and hotter layers. For this reason
the lines appear dark against a continuous background. A star may have a vast tenuous envelope, which
by itself would give a bright-line spectrum. When this spectrum is superposed on that of the star, some of
these bright lines may fill in the dark lines of the stellar spectrum. This occurs in the stars called novas.
At first, visual estimates of the strengths of spectral lines were used to estimate the amounts of the
elements present in the Sun and a few stars, based on an analysis of the lines produced by a laboratory
light source. When photographic emulsions came into use, the spectroscope became the spectrograph, in
which a photographic film or plate replaces the human eye. During the first half of the 20th century
spectrographs were used on telescopes to observe thousands of stars, the intensities of the lines being
measured from the blackness of the film or plate. Most recently photoelectric detectors are used to scan
the spectrum in a spectrophotometer. Stellar spectra can also be measured by other techniques.
Although the ultraviolet, visual, and infrared parts of a star's spectrum can be measured in this way, other
techniques must be used, above the atmosphere, to measure the shorter wavelength spectra of X-ray
stars and gamma-ray stars. Instead of gratings and prisms, various combinations of filters and detectors
are used to measure portions of the X-ray and gamma-ray spectra. At the other extreme - that is, very
long wavelengths - radio spectra of stars and other radio sources are measured by "tuning" a radio
telescope to different frequencies. A radio telescope - the largest is more than 305 m (1,000 ft) across - is
like a giant optical reflector with a radio amplifier at the focus. Radio spectra are much more accurate than
optical spectra. Multiple radio telescopes, placed thousands of kilometers apart, can determine the
position of a radio-emitting star as accurately as an optical telescope can, to better than 0.1 second of arc.

Star Formation:
Stars form inside relatively dense concentrations of interstellar gas and dust known
as molecular clouds. These regions are extremely cold (temperature about 10 to 20K,
just above absolute zero). At these temperatures, gases become molecular meaning
that atoms bind together. CO and H2 are the most common molecules in interstellar
gas clouds. The deep cold also causes the gas to clump to high densities. When the
density reaches a certain point, stars form.
Since the regions are dense, they are opaque to visible light and are known as dark
nebula. Since they don't shine by optical light, we must use IR and radio telescopes to
investigate them.
Star formation begins when the denser parts of the cloud core collapse under their
own weight/gravity. These cores typically have masses around 10 4 solar masses in the
form of gas and dust. The cores are denser than the outer cloud, so they collapse first.
As the cores collapse they fragment into clumps around 0.1 parsecs in size and 10 to
50 solar masses in mass. These clumps then form into protostars and the whole
process takes about 10 millions years.

Protostars:
Once a clump has broken free from the other parts of the cloud core, it has its own
unique gravity and identity and we call it a protostar. As the protostar forms, loose gas
falls into its center. The infalling gas releases kinetic energy in the form of heat and
the temperature and pressure in the center of the protostar goes up. As its
temperature approaches thousands of degrees, it becomes a IR source.

infrared

infrred/

(of electromagnetic radiation) having a wavelength just greater than that of the red end of the visible
light spectrum but less than that of microwaves. Infrared radiation has a wavelength from about 800
nm to 1 mm, and is emitted particularly by heated objects.
o
(of equipment or techniques) using or concerned with this radiation.
"infrared cameras"
noun
noun: infrared; noun: infra-red
1.
1.
the infrared region of the spectrum; infrared radiation.