Theprotostarstage

Astarbeginsitslifeasacontractinggascloud.Thiscloudispredominantly
hydrogen,inatomicaswellasmolecularform,withsomehelium.Thecloudmay
containasmallpercentageoflargerorganicmoleculessuchascarbonmonoxide,
methaneandethanol.Ifotherstarshaveexistedandexpirednearby,thenthecloud
willbeenrichedwithheavierelements,possiblyasheavyaslead.Iftheexpiredstar
wassufficientlymassivethatitfinishedwithasupernovaexplosion,theneven
heavierelementssuchasuraniummaybepresent.ThiswasthecasewithourSun,as
indicatedbythepresenceoftheseheavyelementsonEarth.
Thecontractingcloudheatsupasitscontractsandcanbecalledaprotostar.Ifthe
protostarissufficientlymassive(approximately0.01solarmasses),thenthecorewill
heatupenoughforthefusionofhydrogentobegin.Ifitistoobig(greaterthan
approximately100solarmasses),thenoncefusionbeginstheradiationpressurewill
besogreatthattheprotostarisimmediatelyblownapart.
Themainsequencestage
Oncethefusionofhydrogenbeginsinitscore,theprotostarbecomesamain
sequencestarandwillspendmostofitslifeinthisform.Thepositionastartakesup
ontheHRdiagramdependsonitsmasshighermassstarsarepositionedfurther
upthemainsequence.
Withhydrogenfusinginitscore,amainsequencestarproduceshelium,whichsettles
tothecentreofthestarbecauseitisdenserthanhydrogen.Eventually,thestarhas
onlyadwindlingfuelsupply,insufficienttocontinuetosupportthestar,whichis
readytoevolvetoitsnextstage.
Theredgiantstage
Thenextstageinvolvestheradiationpressure(producedbythefusion)peteringout
andthestarscoreshrinking.Theremaininghydrogenfusionshiftstoashellthat
expandsgreatlyinsize,coolingasitbecomeslessdense.Meanwhile,thecore
collapsesduetogravitation.Thiscausesasuddenincreaseinpressureand
temperaturethatstartsthefusionofheliumtocarbon.
IfthestarhaslessthanapproximatelyonefifthofthemassoftheSunthenitis
doubtfulthatitwilleverachievethetemperaturerequiredtobeginheliumfusion.If
thestarisquitemassivethen,asheliumfusionbeginstowane,furtherfusionscan
start,leadingtoamultilayerstructure.

Thewhitedwarfstage
Eventuallytheheliumfusingcoreofaredgiantrunsoutoffuel.Moremassivestars,
engaginginpostheliumburningreactions,alsorunoutoftheirfuelsources.Ineach
case,thestarisfacingthefinalstageofitslife.Asthestarcontractsyetagaindueto
theeverpresentgravitationalforce,itshedsitsouterlayersandsolosesmass.The
corethatremainsisahotanddensestarcorpse,nolongerperformingfusionreactions
andslowlycoolingdown.
Astarofapproximately1solarmasslosesitsouterlayersgently,sheddingthemasa
sphereshapednebula,knownasaplanetarynebula.Thecorpsethatremainsisabout
thesizeoftheEarthandiscalledawhitedwarf.Thiscorpseeventuallycoolsdownto
beablackdwarf.
Astarofgreatermasslosesitsouterlayersinamuchmoreviolentmanneran
enormousexplosioncalledasupernova.Theremainingstellarcorpseismuchdenser
thanawhitedwarfeitheraneutronstarorablackhole.
Thevariousstagesofastarslife,aswellasitsultimateendpoint,aremostdependent
onitsmass.Asshowninfigure13.11,themassoftheoriginalclouddetermines
whetheritwillformastar,andwhereonthemainsequenceitbecomeslocated.The
massofthestardetermineshowlongitwillremainonthemainsequence,whattype
ofgiantiteventuallybecomesandhowthestarshedsitouterlayers.Themassofthe
coreofthestardetermineswhatformthestellarcorpsewilltake.