 Recombination- combining of
It
atom of a nucleus to form
another atom.
 Similar to the Big Bang, a
balloon expands rapidly at the
start, then more slowly when it
has already inflated. But some
evidence shows that the
expansion is now accelerating
again.
 Redshift- instrument used to
detect the light of other
galaxies.
 Blueshift- light waves are
compressed into higher
frequency, shorter wavelengths
 Redshift- light shifts to longer
wavelengths.
The faster the galaxy is, the
faster the light is moving. The
faster the galaxy moves, the
more redshifted it is.
As far as 12 billion light years.
 Inflation-the universe is
rapidly expanding
 Plasma soup-
 Big bang nucleosynthesis- is
the process of producing the
light elements (Hydrogen and
Helium) during the big bang
expansion.
 Binding energy- is the energy
required to break down a
nucleus into its components.
 Carl Sagan- found it
remarkable that the elements
we find on earth are also those
we find among the stars.
 H and He atoms in stars began
combining in nuclear fusion
reactions once hydrogen-
helium stars had formed from
the action of gravity.
 This releases a huge amount of
light, heat.
 Stellar nucleosynthesis-
 Star mass- determines the fate
of the star (OBAFGKM)
(heavier to lighter).
 
 Electromagenetic force-
positively charged nuclei
 Strong nuclear force- the
attraction that allows for nuclei
to fuse
- a tiny fraction of the total
mass is converted into pure
energy
 The energy released by fusion
counteracts gravity crushing
inward.
 A more massive star has more
fuel which determines the fate
of the star.
LOW MASS STARS
 Low mass or average star- 13
Jupiter masses= one solar mass
est. 1, 300 earths= 1 Jupiter
 Any star begins from a large
cloud of gas and dust
 The first stars were formed
from clouds made of almost
only H and He.
 Gravity causes the gas cloud to
contact until fusion begins.
This generates a yellow or red
main sequence star.
 The rate at which Hydrogen
fusion occurs depends on how
much pressure the star has in
its core.
 1 trillion years- low mass red
dwarf star lifespan
 White star- a hot, intensely
bright super-compact ball, not
much bigger than Earth.
can’t generate energy
anymore.
Planetary nebulae-
 As the Sun gets bigger, it loses
mass.
 The Sun will become a red
sub-giant when it’s nearly 11
billion years old. First red
giant stage- 11.5 billion years.
Second stage- Half a billion
years later.
SIMPLIFIED
1. Very low mass stars live a
long time, fusing all their
hydrogen into helium over
a trillion years.
2. More massive stars like
the Sun live shorter lives.
3. They fuse hydrogen into
helium and eventually
hydrogen into carbon (and
also some oxygen and
neon).
4. When this happens they
expand, get brighter, and
cool off, becoming red
giants.
5. They lose most of their
mass, exposing their
cores, and then cool off
over many billions of
years.
HIGH MASS STAR
 If the star has more than about
8 times the Sun’s mass, it can
create temperatures in its core
in excess of 500 million
degress Celsius, and then
carbon will fuse. Carbon will
fuse into Neon, Magnesium
and Sodium.
 Once silicon fuses, the star
becomes a ticking time bomb.
 A massive star changes when
hydrogen fusion stops, its core
contracts.
 VY Canis Majoris- the largest
known star/ hypergiant with 2
billion kilometers across.
 Rigel- a blue supergiant.
 Parts of the core from center
going outwards
1. Nickel, Iron
2. Silicon, sulfur
3. Oxygen, Neon,
Magnesium
4. Oxygen, Carbon
5. Oxygen Carbon, Neon-22
6. Helium, Nitrogen
7. Hydrogen, Helium
The cores of high mass stars have
hotter cores and fuse faster.
A STAR 20 TIMES THE SUN’S
MASS
 Helium- 1m years
 Carbon- 1k years
 Neon- 1 year
 Oxygen- a few months
 Silicon- 1 day
 When iron fuses, it sucks
up energy instead of
creating it. It removes the
energy of the star.
 The gravity of the core is
so strong that the outer
parts crash down on the
inner parts at a significant
fraction of the speed of
light.
 Neutrinos- subatomic
particles
 Supernova- a star
explosion capable of great
destruction, but are also
critical for our own
existence.
 Supernova remnant-
expanding material
 100 light years- distance it
would take for us to feel
the real effects of a
supernova
 Spica- a star in Virgo
which is the nearest star
that might explode in this
way.
 Explosive
nucleosynthesis- creating
heavy elements
explosively.
SIMPLIFIED
 Massive stars- fuse
heavier elements in their
cores than lower mass
stars. This leads to the
creation of heavier
elements up to iron.
 Iron- robs critical energy
from the core, causing it to
collapse.
 The shock wave, together
with a huge swarm of
neutrinos, blast through
the star’s outer layers,
causing it to explode. The
resulting supernova creates
even more heavy elements,
scattering them through
space.
 We’re in no danger from a
nearby supernova.
 Blue stars: big, hot, bright
(up to 200 solar masses)
 Yellow stars: in between
(close to 1 solar mass)
 Red stars: small, cool,
dim (down to 0.1 solar
masses)
 Red giant: red and cool
(0.3- 8 solar masses)
 White Dwarf- tiny and
hot (0.2- 1.3 solar masses)
 Deuterons-a nucleu of
heavy hydrogen
 Helium flash- hot enough
to fuse heavier helium
nuclei
 Triple alpha process- star
has a new source of fuel
 Horizontal branch- the
star gets smaller, hotter
and bluer until much of the
helium has fused
 Asymptotic Giant
Branch- the star becomes
a giant again until the
outer layers are ejected
leaving a tiny earth-sized
core is left behind to
slowly cool called white-
dwarf star.
 Planetary nebula- ejected
shell
 More mass- means more
inward force so the star is
much hotter
 HOTTER STAR=
FASTER FUSION
 Heavy element- any
element with an atomic
number greater than 26 are
fused only during
supernova, collision of
neutron stars or collision
of a black hole and a
neutron star.
 Chandrasekhar limit- 1.4
m is the maximum mass of
a white dwarf
High mass star- the star
remnant must be bigger
than 1.4 solar masses.
Somewhere between 10
solar masses to 40 solar
masses, core will not be
able to support itself
against gravity, thus it will
collapse and trigger a
supernova.
 Neutron star- about 20
km in diameter.