PHYSICS 20E Lecture Notes - Lecture 20: Red Supergiant Star, Solar Mass, Low Mass
Document Summary
6000 stars visible by eye in the sky. By-eye stars are just within this bubble. Most main sequence stars are low-mass, cool m stars (sometimes called red dwarfs ) Most stars (low-mass ones) die as planetary nebulae. Shed carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen in the process (elements needed for life) Rare giant stars do not live long and die as supernovae. Shed many heavy elements (needed for life) in the process. C,n,o large stars and small stars. Red supergiant star in the constellation orion. It"s the 8th brightest star in the sky. About 100,000 times more luminous than the sun (and ~8 times more massive) It really does look reddish to the naked eye. Expected to continue to fuse elements until its core is iron, at which point it will explode as a supernova. Might explode within the next 10,000 years, more likely next million years. When it does it will likely be brighter than the moon for 3 months.
