AST201H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Angular Momentum, Degenerate Matter, Tablespoon

• School: UTSG
• Department: Astronomy & Astrophysics
• Course: AST201H1
• Professor: Bryan Gaensler, C. Barth Netterfield, Ilana MacDonald

Document Summary

Topic: the afterlives of massive stars, neutron stars. The finale stage of a massive star"s life. When there is no more core fusion then gravity starts to win over pressure. Within a few seconds, the core of the star goes from the size of earth to a size similar to toronto. Further collapse is prevented because of neutron degeneracy pressure. The rest of the star rushed in on itself at 20% of the speed of light (0. 2c) and then hits an immovable ball of neutrons. The material rushing in rebounds explosively and the star tears itself apart. Neutron stars: have diameters of around 25 km but their masses are larger than the sun! One tablespoon of a neutron star is equal to the mass of about 25 000 cn towers. Any rotating object has angular momentum, or the tendency to spin. l= m*v*r (angular momentum = mass * speed * radius. )