Classification of stars Flashcards
Revision (35 cards)
how many arc seconds in an arc hour
its called a degree not an arc hour and 3600
Name 3 methods of determining distance to stars
1: Stellar parallax, 100-1000pc
standard candles
2: type 1a super nova
3: Cepheid Variables, 1kpc to 50 Mpc
define apparent and absolute magnitude
Apparent: The apparent magnitude (m) of a star is
the brightness when viewed from Earth
Absolute: The absolute magnitude (M) of a star is the
apparent magnitude it would have if measured
at a distance of 10 pc from the observer
Define black-body radiation
A body that absorbs all wavelengths of
electromagnetic radiation and can emit all
wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation.
(also known as a perfect thermal source)
Luminosity
the total energy given out per secon, so its power
depends on radius and surface temperature
(The total energy per unit time radiated by a black body is proportional to the fourth power of its absolute temperature) stefans law: L=σAT^4
can you describe continuous, emission and absorption spectra
good job if you can if not ha ha
emission and absorption spectra occur due to…..
excitation and de-excitation of electrons
absorption and emission of visible light is part of the….
Balmer series ( to emit balmer lines the electron in a hydrogen atom must be in the n=2 state)
hey neddy ayla
Oh Be A Fine Girl Kiss Me
spectral classes
O: Blue 25,000 - 50,000 He+, He, H
B: Blue 11,000 - 25,000 He, H
A: Blue-White 7,500 - 11,000 H (strongest) ionised metals
F: White 6,000 - 7,500 Ionised metals
G: Yellow-White 5,000 - 6,000 Ionised & neutral metals
K: Orange 3,500 - 5,000 Neutral metals
M: Red <3,500 Neutral atoms, TiO
can you describe a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram
well you better learn how to then
Notice that:-
the temperature scale is decreasing (50,000 K to
2,500 K).
the classes of star are placed alongside the
temperature scale;
the luminosity scale is logarithmic to compress
it;
Red Giants
Objects that have a high luminosity and a low
surface temperature must have a large surface
area. (Stefan’s Law)
These stars are called red
giants and are found in
the top right corner of
the HR diagram.
White Draves
Torbjörn’s dad?
Objects that have a low luminosity and a high surface temperature must have a low surface area. (Stefan’s Law). These stars are called white dwarfs and lie in the bottom left hand corner of the HR diagram. White dwarfs are stars at the end of their lives, where all of their fusion reactions have stopped and are they are just
stellar evolution in one slide
Stars are formed from great clouds of gas and dust, most of which is the remnants from previous supernovae. When the clumps get dense enough, the cloud fragments into regions called protostars that continue to contract and heat up. Eventually the temperature at the centre of the protostar reaches a few 106K and hydrogen nuclei start to fuse together to form helium The fusion of hydrogen releases enough energy to create enough radiation pressure to stop the gravitational collapse. The star has now reached the main sequence and will remain there while it fuses hydrogen to helium (continued on slide 2)
stellar evolution the second half
Stars spend most of their lives
as main sequence stars.
As the star ages more and
more helium builds up in the
core.
Eventually all the hydrogen is
gone and you are left with a
core of only helium
When the hydrogen in its core runs
out, the outward radiation pressure
stops, gravity wins and the core
starts to contract.
As the core contracts it heats up.
This raises the temperature of
hydrogen surrounding the core
enough for it to fuse.
When the helium runs out, the carbon-oxygen
core contracts again shell helium “burning”.
For stars with mass similar to the of the Sun, the
carbon-oxygen core isn’t hot enough for fusion.
The core continues to contract until electrons
exert enough pressure to stop it collapsing
further
ejecting your outer layer
The helium shell becomes more and more unstable as the core collapses. This causes the star to pulsate and eject its outer layers into space planetary nebula. A hot dense solid core is left behind white dwarf.
a short but exiting life
is what stars of greater than 8 solar masses get
how i want to die sadly im not a star :(
The radiation pressure rapidly decreases so gravity wins
and a rapid collapse occurs until the radius of the inner
core reaches about 30 km.
Further collapse is stopped by strong force interactions
and the degeneracy pressure of neutrons
The in-falling matter, rebounds off the core producing
a shock wave that propagates outward
SUPERNOVA
how fat you are determines how your life will go
relative masses and the corresponding product at the end of the stars life
If the mass of the core is < 1.4 MΘ then a white dwarf
is formed.
If the mass of the core is > 1.4 MΘ then a neutron
star is formed.
If the mass of the core is > 3.0 MΘ then a black hole
is formed.
Important: Note that these values are for the mass of
the core left over – not the initial mass of the star.
Note: The 1.4 MΘ limit is known as the
Chandrasekhar limit
Describe and name the coolest(not literally) star in the known universe
Neutron Stars
The core gets so dense that it overcomes the
electron degeneracy pressure.
Electrons are squashed onto the atomic nuclei
and combine with protons to form neutrons
A density is reached when the repulsive force of
the neutrons is sufficient to stop the collapse of
the stellar core neutron degeneracy pressure.
can emit radio waves if oriented correctly they can be observed as pulsars because they pulse
We are about to go where the sun doesn’t shine
Black Holes
There is no known force in nature that can stop
the collapse of cores greater than 3 solar masses.
The collapse continues until the core contracts
to an infinitely dense point known as a
singularity.
Even light cannot escape from the core within a
certain radius called the Schwarzschild Radius.
event horrizon
Vesc=c
The Schwarzschild Radius
radius of Vesc
how do we know black holes are there
matter falling into them
objects orbiting around them