Gordon College: College of Education, Arts and Sciences

Republic of the Philippines
City of Olongapo
GORDON COLLEGE
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, ARTS AND SCIENCES
Olongapo City Sports Complex, Donor St., East Tapinac, Olongapo City 2200
Telefax No.: (047) 602-7175 loc 322
www.gordoncollege.edu.ph
Title: The Star

Module No. 3
I. Introduction
When looking at stars, do you sometimes wonder how come they twinkle and are so
high up in the sky? Read the legend below. Once upon a time, the sky was very much lower
than it is now. It was rather dark most of the time. One day, a pretty maiden wanted to pound
palay. She had a pearl necklace, a pair of pearl earrings, a pearl ring and a bejeweled comb.
She hung these pieces of jewelry on the sky. She began to pound the palay using a mortar and
pestle. Unfortunately, the pestle was long and it kept on hitting the sky. The sky became
angry. It went further up and up till it became so high. The pretty maiden tried to reach for
her jewelry but the sky was already very high. She saw that her pearl necklace was broken
and the pearls were scattered in the sky. Every night they shine. The pearls from her
necklace, earrings and ring became stars and her bejeweled comb, the moon.
Stars are the most widely recognized astronomical objects, and represent the most
fundamental building blocks of galaxies. The age, distribution, and composition of the stars
in a galaxy trace the history, dynamics, and evolution of that galaxy. Moreover, stars are
responsible for the manufacture and distribution of heavy elements such as carbon, nitrogen,
and oxygen, and their characteristics are intimately tied to the characteristics of the planetary
systems that may coalesce about them. Consequently, the study of the birth, life, and death of
stars is central to the field of astronomy.
II. Learning Objectives
After studying this module, you should be able to:
1. Identify the properties and evolution of the star
2. discuss Stars: Birth and Death and Ages of Star Cluster
3. Compare the relative temperatures of stars based on their colors
LET’S START HERE
Before you start studying this module, take this simple test first to find out how much you already
know about its topics. A. Identify the properties of stars being referred to in the following numbers.
Write the words in the blanks before the numbers
___________________ 1. Can be determined based on luminosity and temperature
___________________ 2. Two properties of stars that are interrelated
___________________ 3. The ability of stars to move over long periods of time
___________________ 4. Determine the elements present in a star
___________________ 5. Can be measured in terms of light years
City of Olongapo
GORDON COLLEGE
Telefax No.: (047) 602-7175 loc 322
What is the meaning of the song Vincent by Don McLean?

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II. Topics and Key Concepts
The Life Cycles of Stars: How Supernovae Are Formed

It is very poetic to say that we are made from the dust of the stars.
Amazingly, it's also true! Much of our bodies, and our planet, are made
of elements that were created in the explosions of massive stars. Let's
examine exactly how this can be.
Life Cycles of Stars

A star's life cycle is determined by its mass. The larger its mass, the shorter its life
cycle. A star's mass is determined by the amount of matter that is available in its nebula, the
giant cloud of gas and dust from which it was born. Over time, the hydrogen gas in the nebula
is pulled together by gravity and it begins to spin. As the gas spins faster, it heats up and
becomes as a protostar. Eventually the temperature reaches 15,000,000 degrees and nuclear
fusion occurs in the cloud's core. The cloud begins to glow brightly, contracts a little, and
becomes stable. It is now a main sequence star and will remain in this stage, shining for
millions to billions of years to come. This is the stage our Sun is at right now.
As the main sequence star glows, hydrogen in its core is converted into helium by
nuclear fusion. When the hydrogen supply in the core begins to run out, and the star is no
longer generating heat by nuclear fusion, the core becomes unstable and contracts. The outer
shell of the star, which is still mostly hydrogen, starts to expand. As it expands, it cools and
glows red. The star has now reached the red giant phase. It is red because it is cooler than it
was in the main sequence star stage and it is a giant because the outer shell has expanded
outward. In the core of the red giant, helium fuses into carbon. All stars evolve the same way
up to the red giant phase. The amount of mass a star has determines which of the following
life cycle paths it will take from there.
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The life cycle of a low mass star (left oval) and a high mass star (right oval).
The illustration above compares the different evolutionary paths low-mass stars (like our
Sun) and high-mass stars take after the red giant phase. For low-mass stars (left hand side),
after the helium has fused into carbon, the core collapses again. As the core collapses, the
outer layers of the star are expelled. A planetary nebula is formed by the outer layers. The
core remains as a white dwarf and eventually cools to become a black dwarf.
On the right of the illustration is the life cycle of a massive star (10 times or more the size of
our Sun). Like low-mass stars, high-mass stars are born in nebulae and evolve and live in the
Main Sequence. However, their life cycles start to differ after the red giant phase. A massive
star will undergo a supernova explosion. If the remnant of the explosion is 1.4 to about 3
times as massive as our Sun, it will become a neutron star. The core of a massive star that has
more than roughly 3 times the mass of our Sun after the explosion will do something quite
different. The force of gravity overcomes the nuclear forces which keep protons and neutrons
from combining. The core is thus swallowed by its own gravity. It has now become a black
hole which readily attracts any matter and energy that comes near it. What happens between
the red giant phase and the supernova explosion is described below.
From Red Giant to Supernova: The Evolutionary Path of High Mass Stars
Once stars that are 5 times or more massive than our Sun reach the red giant phase, their core
temperature increases as carbon atoms are formed from the fusion of helium atoms. Gravity
continues to pull carbon atoms together as the temperature increases and additional fusion
processes proceed, forming oxygen, nitrogen, and eventually iron.
When the core contains essentially just iron, fusion in
the core ceases. This is because iron is the most
compact and stable of all the elements. It takes more
energy to break up the iron nucleus than that of any
other element. Creating heavier elements through
fusing of iron thus requires an input of energy rather
than the release of energy. Since energy is no longer
being radiated from the core, in less than a second, the
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The two supernovae, one reddish

yellow and one star begins the final phase of gravitational collapse.
blue, form a close pair just below the The core temperature rises to over 100 billion degrees
image center as the iron atoms are crushed together. The repulsive
(to the right of the galaxy nucleus) force between the nuclei overcomes the force of
Image Credit: C. Hergenrother, gravity, and the core recoils out from the heart of the
Whipple Observatory, star in a shock wave, which we see as a supernova
P. Garnavich, P.Berlind, R.Kirshner explosion.
(CFA).
As the shock encounters material in the star's outer layers, the material is heated, fusing to
form new elements and radioactive isotopes. While many of the more common elements are
made through nuclear fusion in the cores of stars, it takes the unstable conditions of the
supernova explosion to form many of the heavier elements. The shock wave propels this
material out into space. The material that is exploded away from the star is now known as a
supernova remnant.
The hot material, the radioactive isotopes, as well as the leftover core of the exploded star,
produce X-rays and gamma-rays.
Color and Temperature
As we learned in The Electromagnetic Spectrum section, Wien’s law relates stellar

color to stellar temperature. Blue colors dominate the visible light output of very hot stars
(with much additional radiation in the ultraviolet). On the other hand, cool stars emit most of
their visible light energy at red wavelengths (with more radiation coming off in the infrared)
(Table 1). The color of a star therefore provides a measure of its intrinsic or true surface
temperature (apart from the effects of reddening by interstellar dust, which will be discussed
in Between the Stars: Gas and Dust in Space). Color does not depend on the distance to the
object. This should be familiar to you from everyday experience. The color of a traffic signal,
for example, appears the same no matter how far away it is. If we could somehow take a star,
observe it, and then move it much farther away, its apparent brightness (magnitude) would
change. But this change in brightness is the same for all wavelengths, and so its color would
remain the same.
Table 1. Example Star Colors and Corresponding Approximate Temperatures
Star Color Approximate Temperature Example
Blue 25,000 K Spica
White 10,000 K Vega

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Table 1. Example Star Colors and Corresponding Approximate Temperatures
Star Color Approximate Temperature Example
Yellow 6000 K Sun
Orange 4000 K Aldebaran
Red 3000 K Betelgeuse
The hottest stars have temperatures of over 40,000 K, and the coolest stars have temperatures
of about 2000 K. Our Sun’s surface temperature is about 6000 K; its peak wavelength color is
a slightly greenish-yellow. In space, the Sun would look white, shining with about equal
amounts of reddish and bluish wavelengths of light. It looks somewhat yellow as seen from
Earth’s surface because our planet’s nitrogen molecules scatter some of the shorter (i.e., blue)
wavelengths out of the beams of sunlight that reach us, leaving more long wavelength light
behind. This also explains why the sky is blue: the blue sky is sunlight scattered by Earth’s
atmosphere.
Color Indices
In order to specify the exact color of a star, astronomers normally measure a star’s apparent
brightness through filters, each of which transmits only the light from a particular narrow
band of wavelengths (colors). A crude example of a filter in everyday life is a green-colored,
plastic, soft drink bottle, which, when held in front of your eyes, lets only the green colors of
light through.
One commonly used set of filters in astronomy measures stellar brightness at three
wavelengths corresponding to ultraviolet, blue, and yellow light. The filters are named: U
(ultraviolet), B (blue), and V (visual, for yellow). These filters transmit light near the
wavelengths of 360 nanometers (nm), 420 nm, and 540 nm, respectively. The brightness
measured through each filter is usually expressed in magnitudes. The difference between any
two of these magnitudes—say, between the blue and the visual magnitudes (B–V)—is called
a color index.
By agreement among astronomers, the ultraviolet, blue, and visual magnitudes of the UBV
system are adjusted to give a color index of 0 to a star with a surface temperature of about
10,000 K, such as Vega. The B–V color indexes of stars range from −0.4 for the bluest stars,
with temperatures of about 40,000 K, to +2.0 for the reddest stars, with temperatures of about
2000 K. The B–V index for the Sun is about +0.65. Note that, by convention, the B–V
index is always the “bluer” minus the “redder” color.
City of Olongapo
GORDON COLLEGE
Telefax No.: (047) 602-7175 loc 322
Why use a color index if it ultimately implies temperature? Because the brightness of a star
through a filter is what astronomers actually measure, and we are always more comfortable
when our statements have to do with measurable quantities.
Variable Stars
Variable stars are stars that become brighter or dimmer at regular intervals of time.
Polaris is an example of a variable star.
Binary Stars
Binary stars are pairs of stars that share and orbit around the same center of mass
and are held together by gravitational attraction. They are also called double stars.
An example of binary
stars are the Proxima Centauri and the Alpha Centauri.
Novae
A nova is a star that suddenly flares into brightness and then normally fades again.
Nova stella Proxima Centauri Alpha Centauri Polaris 13
Supernovae
A supernova refers to a vast stellar explosion which takes a few days to complete
making the star temporarily millions of times brighter that it originally was. The
supernova explosion that
created the Crab Nebula, for example, was seen on about July 4, 1054 A.D. It was
recorded by Chinese astronomers and perhaps others.
Dwarfs
There are many kinds of dwarf stars distinguished by color. A brown dwarf, for
example, is a failed star. It is heavier than a gas-giant planet but not quite massive
enough to be a star.
A red dwarf is a star with less than half the sun’s mass. White dwarfs are the corpses
of moderately-massive stars and are smaller, hotter and much heavier than brown
dwarfs.
Neutron Stars
Stars that have a lot of mass may end their lives as black holes or neutron stars.
Neutron stars are stars of very small sizes and very great densities which have
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almost reached the end of their evolutionary lives. They are fantastic objects—just a
few kilometers in diameter with the mass of the sun and very rapidly rotating.
Pulsars
Pulsars are neutron stars that remain from the original stars. An example of this can
be seen in the center of the Crab Nebula.
Black Holes
As we said earlier, stars that have a lot of mass may end their lives as either black
holes or neutron stars. A black hole is a very massive star core, a remnant of a
supernova explosion, that can exert such a tremendous gravitational force that not
only solid objects but also atoms cannot escape from its surface.
Let’s do this
City of Olongapo
GORDON COLLEGE
Telefax No.: (047) 602-7175 loc 322
Fill in the blanks to complete the following statements.
1. __________ stars are those that vary in brightness over certain periods of time.
2. __________ stars are pairs of stars that share and orbit around the same center of
mass and are held together by gravitational attraction.
3. __________ are stars that suddenly flare into brightness and then normally fade again.
4. __________ are vast stellar explosions which take a few days to complete making the
stars temporarily millions of times brighter than they originally were.
5. __________ are extremely small stars determined by their colors.
6. __________ are those of very small sizes and very great densities which have already
reached the end of their evolutionary lives.
7. __________ are rapidly revolving neutron stars.
8. __________ are very massive star cores, remnants of supernovae, that can exert such
tremendous gravitational forces that not only solid objects but even atoms cannot
escape from their surfaces.
A. Identify what is being referred to by each of the following.

___________ 1. Stars that vary in brightness at regular intervals of time
___________ 2. Pairs of stars that share and orbit around the same center of mass
and are held together by gravitational attraction
___________ 3. Stars that suddenly flare into brightness and normally fade again
___________ 4. Vast stellar explosions which take a few days to complete making
the stars millions of times brighter than they originally were
___________ 5. Very massive star cores, remnants of supernova explosions, that
can exert such tremendous gravitational forces that not only solid
objects but also atoms cannot escape from their surfaces
B. Enumerate the ten stages in the evolution of stars in the blanks provided below.
1. _____________________________________________________________
2. _____________________________________________________________
3. _____________________________________________________________
4. _____________________________________________________________
5. _____________________________________________________________
6. _____________________________________________________________
7. _____________________________________________________________
8. _____________________________________________________________
9. _____________________________________________________________
10. _____________________________________________________________
ACTIVITY TIME
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GORDON COLLEGE
Telefax No.: (047) 602-7175 loc 322
Do you notice how stars differ in brightness?. Using a needle, prick every dot you see in the diagram
1. Make sure the holes you make are as big as the dots in the diagram themselves. Then look at the
chart against a bright light. Afterward, answer the questions that follow.
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1. If you are in a place located above the equator, for how many months can you use this star chart?
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2. If you set the part of the chart marked 0 (between the months of May and April) toward the
north, what constellations will you see on the eastern (right) part of the chart? western (left) part of
the chart?
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3. In what constellation can you find the Little Dipper? the Big Dipper? How many stars are there in
each?
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4. Do the appearance of constellations in the sky change from time to time? Why/Why not?
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References:
https://lrmds.deped.gov.ph/search?
filter=&search_param=all&query=stars+constellation
https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/how-do-stars-form-and-evolve

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Republic of the Philippines

Title: The Star

LET’S START HERE

What is the meaning of the song Vincent by Don McLean?

The Life Cycles of Stars: How Supernovae Are Formed

Life Cycles of Stars

The two supernovae, one reddish

Color and Temperature

As we learned in The Electromagnetic Spectrum section, Wien’s law relates stellar

Star Color Approximate Temperature Example

Blue 25,000 K Spica

White 10,000 K Vega

Table 1. Example Star Colors and Corresponding Approximate Temperatures

Star Color Approximate Temperature Example

Yellow 6000 K Sun

Orange 4000 K Aldebaran

Red 3000 K Betelgeuse

stars are the Proxima Centauri and the Alpha Centauri.

Nova stella Proxima Centauri Alpha Centauri Polaris 13

Fill in the blanks to complete the following statements.

A. Identify what is being referred to by each of the following.

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