ASTR 121 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Quantum Tunnelling, Alpha Process, Virial Theorem

• School: University of Maryland
• Department: Astronomy
• Course: ASTR 121
• Professor: Cole Miller

Document Summary

Seen from a distance stars are fairly simple objects. The destiny of a star is tied to it"s initial mass. But also the density will give you the destiny. The mass tells you the core temperature and pressure. Stars of higher mass have core temperatures and more rapid fusion making those both more luminous and more short lived. Stars of lower mass have cooler cores and live longer. Our knowledge of the life stories of stars come from comparing mathematical models of stars with observation. A star remains on the main sequences long as it can fuse hydrogen into helium in it"s core. Lecture 05: life as a low mass star. =#$, = 1. 38 104"; be to have 104<= resolution. Fusion is rare but not too rare that it never happens. In quantum mechanics, particles are represented by wave functions. Related to the probability of a particle being in a region.