ASTRO 104 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Degenerate Matter, Red Giant

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30 Oct 2014
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Concerned, the entire central region of the star begins to act like a single atom. As the low- energy levels within the core are filled with electrons, the only place left for additional electrons are higher energy states. This type of electron overcrowding is technically called electron degeneracy. " it is important because it produces a pressure within the core that can start to slow the collapse. Peculiar properties of degenerate matter: the density has to be phenomenally high: 1. 4 106 g/cm3, the pressure of a degenerate gas does not depend on temperature. As the core heats up, its pressure remains unchanged. So as more and more stuff collapses onto the star"s core, the temperature continues to rise but the pressure remains approximately constant. Since degenerate matter conducts heat very well, as the core heats, its temperature rises quite uniformly.

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