ASTR 1100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Degenerate Matter, Solar Mass, Low Mass
Document Summary
Lecture 16: types of stars: high mass stars: evolution of high mass stars. Has roughly the same development as low mass stars but only faster. Needs 600 million kelvin to fuse carbon into oxygen, neon, magnesium. 1. 2 billion kelvin is needed for neon fuses. 1. 5 billion kelvin is needed for oxygen fuses. Each successive fusion occurs faster than the previous one. => out of all stages in each star"s life, the star stays the longest time on the main sequence stage. Each stage adds a new shell of a new element outside the core. The radiation from the fusion of all these shells pushes the envelope and the star becomes a supergiant. Inside the core elements fuse into heavier ones up to iron. To fuse iron or heavier elements, energy needs to be added. If there is no more radiation outside the core, gravity will win. Electron degeneracy pressure can only support stars up to 1. 4 solar mass.
