Download HR-Diagram

THE HR DIAGRAM
The Life Cycles of Stars
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HR-DIAGRAM- WHAT IS IT?
Stands for the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram
Graphs surface temperature (color) vs.
Absolute Brightness
 Horizontal
Axis- Surface Temp/Color
 Vertical Axis- Absolute Brightness
 Mass
can also be estimated when Stars are
placed on the HR Diagram. Typically the higher
the star is on the diagram the larger the mass
with a couple of exceptions.
MAIN SEQUENCE STARS
This is the diagonal band of stars that start with the
bright hot stars in the upper left and the cool, dim stars in
the lower right corner
 90% of the stars in the universe lie on the main sequence
 The sun is located in the middle
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GIANTS VS. DWARFS
The HR diagram can estimate size and mass of the star
 If you compare two stars of the same temperature the
brighter star must be larger
 If you compare two stars of the mass/size the hotter stars
are brighter than the cooler stars.
 http://aspire.cosmicray.org/labs/star_life/hr_interactive.html
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SUPER GIANTS AND WHITE DWARFS
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GIANTS- large bright stars a bit smaller and fainter than
Super giants
Super giants
In the Red temp range tend to be in their last stages of life. They
run out of hydrogen and are now fusing Helium into Carbon.
 In the Blue temp range they are hot bright main sequence stars.
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White Dwarfs- are the small, dense remains of low or
medium mass stars.
They are very hot, but dimmer then the main sequence stars of the
same temperature.
 They are no longer producing energy or light, they are lit because
of the remaining energy from the collapse of the original star.
They will eventually cool to a black dwarf.
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Most stars fall on the main sequence
Close to 9% are White Dwarfs
Less than 1% are Giants or Super giants
LIFECYCLE OF A STAR-BIRTH AND FORMATION
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FORMATION- Space contains gas and dust and stars are formed in
nurseries called Nebulas or a contracting cloud of dust and gas
Some Nebulas glow while others are dark
Stars are created from Gravity pulling the nebula together and
making a dense ball of gas
PROTOSTAR- enough gas and dust to form a star is available, but
it is not an actual star until it gets hot enough to start nuclear
(hydrogen) fusion
ADULT STAR
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When a star is on the main sequence it is considered an adult star. It
will spend approx. 90% of its life span on as an adult star on the main
sequence.
This begins the moment Hydrogen fusion begins
The more massive the star, the more nuclear fusion takes place to
produce energy
The mass of the star determines the place it lies on the main
sequence.
Larger stars die quicker than smaller stars because it uses its fuel
quicker
Large- live a few million years
Medium- 10 billion (like our Sun)
Small- 100 billion or more
DEATH
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At some point the star runs out of fuel. Now remember
the star is stable because of its balance between inward
and outward forces.
The outward force- Thermal Pressure
The inward force- Gravity
1. The star now begins to lose thermal
pressure and gravity squeezes the core
which starts hydrogen fusion in the shell of the star. This
causes the outer layers of the star to expand.
2. The star cools down and turns red
3. The core continues to shrink causing helium fusion.
For a moment ( few million years) the star stabilizes in
the red giant region of the HR diagram.
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DEATH OF A LOW OR MEDIUM MASS STAR
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1.
2.
3.
4.
As the Helium supplies dwindle, the outward pressure is
not enough to balance the inward pressure of gravity
The star collapses
The hot core remains with all of the gas around it. We
call this a Planetary Nebula
Eventually the gas surrounding the core blows off and
we are left with a hot core called a White Dwarf
This will cool off after 20 billion years leaving a cold
core called a Black dwarf
HIGH MASS STAR- MORE THAN 8X THE SUN
The star runs out of energy and turns into a Red Super Giant the
same way a low mass star does.
1.
The Star Collapses
2.
This time there is so much energy because of the large mass of
the outer star that the collapse causes a Super Nova Explosion.
NOW…if the CORE of the star has a mass of 3x or less the size of
the sun ( but has a much smaller diameter than the sun) it
creates a Neutron Star which spins and emits a steady beam of
radiation and light out of its poles.
*Neutron stars are so Dense that a teaspoon of a neutron star on
EARTH would weigh a billion tons.
* If the neutron star is spinning it will appear to pulse giving
it the name PULSAR
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FINALLY…if the CORE of the star is more than 3x the mass of the
Sun ( and still a much smaller diameter than the Sun) the star
collapses with so much energy and as the star get smaller, the
gravity gets much larger. In Fact it is too large even for light to
escape the gravity. This is a BLACK HOLE!