Solution: HW 1

AY 123, Fall 2007

by Alicia M. Soderberg, Fabio Altenbach, and Matthew Stevenson

October 16, 2007

Problem 1:

1a.
The star has density profile ρ(r) = ρc (1 − r/R). The total mass (M) must
be
Z R
M = m(R) = 4πR2 ρ(r)dr (1)
0
Z R
= 4πR2 ρc (1 − r/R) dr (2)
0
Z 1
= 4πR3 ρc x2 (1 − x) dx (3)
0
= 4πR3 ρc (1/3 − 1/4) (4)
π 3
= R ρc (5)
3
Therefore,
3M
ρc = πR3
(6)

1b.
From the hydrostatic equilibrium equation, dPdr
= −Gm(r)ρ(r)
r2
, we can de-
termine the pressure profile, p(r). First we need the mass enclosed within

1
radius r.
r3 r4
!
Z r
2
m(r) = 4π ρ(r)r dr = 4πρc − (7)
0 3 4R
Thus, we get for the pressure (integrating from r = r to r = R, where
p(R) = 0),
4πGρ2c r 3 r4
!
R r
Z 
p(r) = 2
− 1− dr (8)
r r 3 4R R
36GM 2 Z 1 x x2 x2 x3
!
= − − + dx (9)
πR4 r/R 3 4 3 4
#x=1
36GM 2 x2 7x3 x4
"
= − + (10)
πR4 6 36 16 x=r/R
5GM 2 9x4
" !#
4 2 3
= 1 − 6x − 7x + (11)
4πR4 5 4
2
therefore, p(r) = pc f (x) where pc = 5GM 2
4πR4
= 4.4 × 1015 (M/M ⊙)
(R/R )4
dyne cm−2
  ⊙
4
and f (x) = 1 − 45 6x2 − 7x3 + 9x4 . Note that this value of pc is much
smaller than the Sun’s central pressure, 2.4 × 1017 dyne cm−2 , since the Sun
is much more centrally concentrated.

1c.
From the ideal gas EOS,
ρ
p = nkT = kT (12)
mp µ
where n is the particle number density, mp is the proton mass, and µ ≈ 0.6
is the mean molecular weight (HK 1.52). Thus, evaluating the temperature
at the center of the star, Tc ,
mp µpc
Tc = (13)
kρc
mp µ5GM 2 πR3
= (14)
k4πR4 3M
5mp µGM
= (15)
12kR

Tc = 5 × 106 (M/M ⊙)
(R/R⊙ )
K (16)

2
which is about a third of the actual solar value.

1d.
The radiation pressure at the center is pγ = 31 aTc4 . Plugging in Tc from
4
1c yields pγ = 2.8 × 1012 (M/M ⊙)
(R/R )4
dyne cm−2 . Therefore,
⊙

!2
pγ M
= 6.3 × 10−4 (17)
pgas M⊙
So the gas pressure dominates as long as M < 40M⊙ . Heavier stars with this
density profile will be radiation pressure dominated in their cores.

1e.
The gravitational binding energy is (HK 1.6)
Gm(r)
M
Z
Ω = − dm (18)
0 r
Gm(r) r
Z R  
= − 4πρc 1 − r 2 dr (19)
0 r R
r3 r4
!
r
Z R 
2
= − (4πρc ) G − 1− rdr (20)
0 3 4R R
144GM 2 Z 1 x4 x5 x5 x6
!
= − − − + dx (21)
R 0 3 3 4 4
−144GM 2 1 1 1 1
 
= − − + (22)
R 15 18 24 28
2
Ω = − 26GM
35R
(23)
The stellar kinetic energy is (HK 1.20)
3 p(r)
Z
K = dm (24)
2 ρ(r)
3 R
Z
= p(r)4πr 2 dr (25)
2 0
6GM 2 1 5x2 9x6
Z !
4 5
= − 6x + 7x − dx (26)
R 0 4 4
2
So, K = 13GM35R
, as is expected from the virial theorem, K = − 21 Ω. Note that
this result is fully general and independent of the EOS.

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Problem 2:

The radiant flux received from the Sun is the Solar luminosity divided by
the surface area over which it is spread:
L⊙
F = (27)
4πa2⊕

where the Solar luminosity is calculated from

2 4
L⊙ = 4πR⊙ σTeff (28)

Combining the two expressions gives

!2
4 R⊙
F = σTeff (29)
a⊕

We note that R⊙ /a⊕ is the angular radius of the Sun, so the above gives the
effective temperature in terms of given quantities:
!1/4
F
Teff = 2
(30)
σθ⊙

Plugging in the given values reveals

Teff = 5800 K (31)

4
Problem 3:

The total energy of a star of mass M and radius R with the density
2
profile in problem 1 is Etot = Ω + K = −1.41 × 1048 (M/M ⊙)
(R/R⊙ )
erg. Now,
if the star has a surface temperature Tef f , it radiates energy at a rate of
 2
R
L = 4πR2 σTef
4
f = 1.35 × 10
32
R⊙
erg/s.
Now, suppose the star begins with a very large radius and then contracts
at a constant mass while radiating energy. We then have,
dEtot Etot dR
L=− = (32)
dt Rdt
R
Plugging in, and letting x = R⊙

3.8 × 1048 dx
dt = (33)
1.35 × 1032 x4

16
Z ∞ dx
t = 2.81 × 10 sec (34)
1 x4
t = 3.0 × 108 years (35)
4 2
Therefore, if the star contracts at constant Tef f with L ∝ Tef f R , then it
begins very luminous and then becomes fainter as it contracts. We thus have
the following HR diagram:

5
6
Problem 4:

The period P is defined

 as
 P = 2R/vs where the sounds speed vs is given
2 p d ln p
by vs = Γ1 ρ and Γ1 = d ln ρ .
ad
From the virial theorem we know Ω ≈ GM 2 /R, so

p vs2
Z Z
Ω=3 dm = 3 dm (36)
ρ Γ1

vs2
≈3 M (37)
Γ1
vs2 GM 2
so we know 3 M ≈ (38)
Γ1 R
 −1/2
GM
Thus we plug in the expression for vs and solve for P and find P ∼ R3
∼
(Gρ̄)−1/2 ∼ 0.02 (ρ̄/ρ̄⊙ )−1/2 days. It is useful to remember that this is about
an hour for the sun.
 2
M
Now, P ∝ ρ̄−1/2 ∝ R3
and using fixed Tef f , L ∝ R2 Tef
4 3
f and L ∝ M ,
we see that P ∝ L7/12

7
Problem 5:

There are very detailed models for finding the remnant mass given an
initial mass, but I will use rough numbers to keep it simple. The  stellar

remnant (Mr ) versus initial mass (Mi ) relation is such that Mr ≈ M5 i for
0.1 ≤ Mi ≤ 8M⊙ , Mr ≈ 1.4M⊙ for 8 ≤ Mi ≤ 60M⊙ . For Mi > 60M⊙ ,
the relationship isnt as well known, but can be ignored because there is very
little initial mass at these values for a Salpeter IMF.

Now, lets find the total initial stellar mass for the population given some
proportionality constant a for the Salpeter IMF.
60 dN
Z Z
Mtot,i = Mi dN = Mi dMi (39)
0.1 dMi
Z 60
=a Mi Mi−2.35 dMi (40)
0.1
a  
= × 0.1−0.35 − 60 − 0.35 ≈ 5.71a (41)
0.35
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After 10 Gyr, stars with masses larger than a solar mass will have evolved
off the main sequence. The total mass left in the remaining stars and stellar
remnants is
1 8 Mi −2.35 60
Z Z Z
Mtot,f = a Mi Mi−2.35 dMi + a M dMi + a 1.4Mi−2.35 dMi
0.1 1 5 i 8
(42)
= 3.54a + 0.3a + 0.06a = 3.9a (43)
Mtot,f
Thus, 1 − Mtot,i
= 40% is returned to the ism.

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Problem 6:

This problem is easiest to calculate from the point-of-view of the binary

system. Centre a celestial sphere on the binary system, oriented such that
the system’s angular momentum vector points North. The Solar system’s
location on the sphere is described by two angles θ and φ as in spherical
coordinates. Note that the inclination angle i is equal to θ.
Assuming a random orientation, the probability of falling at a given θ
and φ is 1/4π. The probability of falling at a given i is
1 1
p(i) = 2π sin i = sin i (44)
4π 2

The average value of sin3 i is then

D
3
E 1Z π 3
sin i = sin i sin i di (45)
2 0
which reveals D E
sin3 i = 0.589 (46)

If the inclination is not known, then Kepler’s 3rd Law for binary stars
takes the form
(2π)2 a3
(M1 + M2 ) sin3 i = (47)
G P2
Given luminosities measured through other means and a large enough sample,
this allows one to find the average mass for a star of a given luminosity. The
mass-luminosity relation follows.

10
Problem 7:

NOTE: In preparing the solution to this problem, I assumed the

parallax had the same uncertainty as other angular measurements.
It is okay if you assumed the measurement to be exact, as stated
in the problem.
Recall: Uncertainties are added in quadrature. To find the error of some
function f (x1 , x2 , ..., xn ):
v
u !2 !2 !2
u ∂f ∂f ∂f
∆f = t
∆x21 + ∆x22 +···+ ∆x2n (48)
∂x1 ∂x2 ∂xn
Which, for a function f (x1 , x2 , ..., xn ) = const × xa1 × xb1 × · · · × xzn reduces to
v
u 2 !2 2
∆f u a∆x1 b∆x2 z∆xn

=t + +···+ (49)
f x1 x2 xn
7a.
From the parallax we know d = 1pc/arcsec, so d = 3 × 1019 cm
The angluar size of the radius is θ = 2R⊙ /d = 4.7 × 10−4 arcsec
The angular semi-major axis is given by θa = 500R⊙ /d = 0.24arcsec
Now r
we need to find the error in r = θr /Π, where Π is the parallax, which
 2  2
∆r ∆θr ∆Π
is r
= θr
+ Π
. Using ∆θr = 0.01 and ∆Π = 0.01 yeilds:
∆R ∆a
R
= 2130% and a
= 10.9% (50)

7b.
These curves are roughly the BB curves at various temperatures. Unfor-
tunately, for T = 5800K we are not safely in the RJ portion of the spectrum
at ν = 1014 Hz, but we are in the Wein part of the spectrum at ν = 1015 Hz.
(νFν )14
Thus, letting x = (νFν )15
,
h i−1
3
ν14 (2hν14 /c2 ) ehν14 /kT − 1
x = 3
(51)
ν15 (2hν15 /c2 ) e−hν15 /kT
ν14 4 ehν15 /kT
 
= (52)
ν15 ehν14 /kT − 1

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 dx  
≈ x hν15 /kT 2 + · · · ( higher order terms) (53)
dT
∆x hν15 ∆T ∆T
Therefore, x
≈ kT T
. So, T
≈ 1% .

7c.
From Kepler’s Law:
P 2
 
GMtot = a3 (54)
2π
4π 2  2 
∆M = 3a ∆a (55)
GP 2
∆M ∆a
=3 = 33% (56)
M a

7d.
Finding the Luminosity is straightforward:

L = 4πR2 σTef
4 33
f = 3.9 × 10 erg/s = L⊙ as assumed (57)

Now we calculate the uncertainty:

" 2 2 #1/2
∆L 2∆R 4∆T

= + (58)
L R T
∆L
L
≈ 4300% (59)

7e.
The apparent flux at earth is F = L/4πd2 . Now, converting to the
observed variable Π, we find
" 2 2 #1/2
∆L 2∆Π ∆F

= + ≈ 21% (60)
L Π F

This is a great improvement. Now we do the same, but for F = R2 σTef

4
f /d
2

to find
" 2 2 2 #1/2
∆R 2∆T ∆Π 0.5∆F
 
= + + ≈ 10.3% (61)
R T Π F

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