Life Cycle of Stars Flashcards
A star’s life expectancy depends on…
Mass
What happens to more massive stars?
Burn through their fuel and live shorter
What’s a Nebula?
A type of interstellar cloud in space composed of gas and dust
What are Nebulae made of?
Dust, plasma, and hydrogen/helium gas
What do nebulae serve as
Stellar nurseries where stars are burned
What do some nebula form from?
Supernova explosion
How are spheres created?
Within a nebula, gas and dust are pulled together by the force of gravity
As the sphere gets denser…
It gets hotter
What happens in nuclear fusion?
Hydrogen turns into helium
What are stars powered by?
Nuclear fusion in their cores, atoms are fused together
What determines nucleosynthesis?
Mass
What’s a protostar?
A developing star not hot enough for nuclear fusion
What’s the core of a protostar?
10 million K
What initiates a protostar’s nuclear fusion?
When the core’s pressure is high enough
What is hydrogen fusion?
Generates energy in main sequence stars
