Star Life Cycle

Stellar Evolution: Life of the

Star
 The most massive stars
have the shortest lives.
Stars that are 25 to 50
times that of the sun live
for only a few million years.
Stars like our Sun live for
about 10 billion years. Stars
less massive than the Sun
have even longer life spans

 Stars are like humans they

are born, live and die
 The Birth of Stars
Stars are formed in
1. Nebulae, interstellar
clouds of dust and gas (mostly
hydrogen).

These stellar nurseries are

abundant in the arms of spiral
galaxies.

In these stellar nurseries,

dense parts of these clouds
undergo gravitational collapse
and compress to form a
rotating gas globule.
It begins to spin as it shrinks
NEBULA PICTURES
 Protostar stage: The nebula
flattens and the center condenses:
Temps start to increase due to friction
(more collision of molecules).
When temps reach 10 million K,
NUCLEAR FUSION begins
Nuclear Fusion generates the energy
for a star.
When fusion begins, it is officially
considered a STAR. (yeah!)
Fusion – combining a lightweight
nuclei into a heavier nuclei
otostar
ctures
 Main-Sequence Stage
The protostar is now a
stable main sequence
star which will remain
in this state for about 10
billion years. After that,
the hydrogen fuel is
depleted and the star
begins to die.

Stars live out the

majority of their lives in
a phase termed as the
Main Sequence. Longest
stage of a star
Main Sequence Star
 RED GIANT STAGE

When a star has burned between 10% and 20% of its hydrogen,
its core will to run out of fuel.
At this stage, the star is entering the end of its life.
The diameter of the star can increase by a factor of 200, while its
cooling is translated into a reddening of its radiation : the star is
becoming what is called a red giant.
 Star has run out of
Hydrogen atoms in the core
to undergo fusion.
 Our sun has used only about
5% of its Hydrogen
 Star expands about 10x
bigger and cools.
 Its luminosity increases,
temp decreases.*****
 Helium fuses to form
Carbon, and the core
shrinks.
 It begins losing outer layers
 BETELGEUSE –RED GIANT
F.Y.I.
 Only a few million years
old, Betelgeuse is already
dying. Astronomers
predict that it's doomed
to explode as a soon,
within 1,000 years or so,
an event that will be
spectacular for Earth's
future inhabitants.
(Conceivably, it's already
happened as Betelgeuse
is 640 light-years away!)
 
•Star size comparison
 Burnout and Death
 Fate of a Star depends
on its mass
 All stars, regardless of
size, run out of fuel and
collapse due to gravity
A star will become
either a black dwarf,
neutron star, or
black hole,
depending on how
massive it was. .
Death of low-mass stars

•Never evolve into red giants

•Remain stable main-sequence stars until
hydrogen is gone
•Collapse into white dwarfs
 **Death of medium-mass stars**

• Sun-like Stars
(Mass under 1.5 times the mass of the Sun) Red
Giant --> Planetary Nebula -->White Dwarf
--> Black Dwarf
 **Death of massive stars**
• Huge Stars
(Mass between 1.5 to 3 times the mass of the Sun)
Red SuperGiant --> Supernova --> Neutron
Star
• Giant Stars
(Mass over 3 times the mass of the Sun)
Red SuperGiant --> Supernova --> Black Hole
PLANETARY NEBULA

•This is left when a giant loses its outer

layers of gas.
•Leaves only the core.
•The core will become a white dwarf
Planetary nebula
pictures
 WHITE DWARF
Only hot, dense core is left of this star.
• It will shine for billions of years before
cooling.
• Stable star with no nuclear fuel,radiates left
over fuel for billions of years
• Could become a black dwarf, but the
universe is not old enough to form these
White Dwarf Pictures
 SUPER NOVA

• Super Giant eventually loses

its outer layers in an
explosion leaving only the
core – this is the super nova.
 Eventually this core collapses (in an instant). As
the iron atoms are crushed together in this
gravitational collapse, the core temperature rises
to about 100 billion degrees.

The repulsive electrical forces

between the atoms' nuclei overcomes
the gravitational forces, causing a
massive, bright, short-lived explosion
called a supernova. During the
explosion, shock waves, blow away the
star's outer layers.
 NEUTRON STAR

After a Super Nova explosion, the core may

condense into a small core of neutrons.
It is so dense – 1 spoonful of Earth would weigh
100 million tons.
Rotates very rapidly.
If the star's remaining mass is between 1 1/2 to 3
times the mass of the Sun, it will collapse into a
small, dense neutron star (about ten miles in
diameter, about 1.4 times the mass of the Sun,
with an extraordinarily strong magnetic field, and
rapid spin).
Neutron Star Pictures
BLACK HOLE

• This is the 3rd predicted result to a star.

• This is the most dense core of a star that can
be left.
• Gravity is so strong, light cannot escape.
• Makes it look like a dark hole in space.
If the star's remaining mass is greater than
three times the mass of the Sun, the star
contracts tremendously and becomes a black
hole
Black Hole Pictures

Anatomy of a black hole

• The density of a star is pre-determined based on its
weight (the amount of dust and gas) it begins
with.
• Smaller stars become white dwarfs.
• Very large stars become neutron stars or black
holes.
•Life Cycle of a Star Video