Stellar Evolution Quiz Flashcards
Stellar Evolution
The life cycle of a star
-the birth
-the development
-the death
Stellar Nurseries
The birthplace of a star.
Formed from released matters of other stars that cluster together in space.
Stellar Nebula
An interstellar cloud where atoms of interstellar dust encounter one another and their gravitational force pulls them together.
Pro-Star
A very young star created from when the stellar nebula releases great amounts of heat and pressure
Main Sequence (Yellow Star)
The developing stage of a small star, where the pro-stars starts to expand and undergo nuclear fusion, thus increasing the star’s luminosity
Red Giant
The elderly stage of a small star, where the structure of the star begins to swell as it loses its supply of hydrogen.
Planetary Nebula
The phase after a small star reaches the red Giant phase. Gravity can no longer hold onto it’s outer layers and matter and energy gets ejected into space. These form rings around the core of the star.
White Dwarf
Small, dense stellar remnants that remain after a star undergoes it’s planetary Nebula phase.
Made mostly out of carbon and oxygen and is about the size of the earth.
Black Dwarfs
When a white dwarf gradually cools down, turning into a dark red, and shining the last of it’s energy into space.
(The corpse of a star)
Massive Star
Massive stars that are hot and bright and that die really fast because they quickly use up all their hydrogen.
Main Sequence (blue star)
The pro-star of a massive Star starts to expand increasingly and undergoes nuclear fusion, heating the star up and turning it blue.
Super Giant
When a massive star reaches its elderly age where the supply of hydrogen rapidly runs out and the star begins to swell. The remaining helium in the core of the star fuses with iron and makes this type of star.
Supernova
A gigantic stellar explosion that occurs after a supergiant has fused too much with an iron core.
Neutron star
The core of the supernova that remains after the explosion that is full of electrically charged particles that make them hot, bright, and dense.
Blackhole
Where the core of a supernova collapses and carries immense amounts of gravity that not even light could escape.
