AST201H1 Chapter 17: #10 Chapter 17.doc
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AST201H1 Full Course Notes
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Intermediate-mass stars have birth weights between about 2 and 8 solar masses. Red giant stage giant: when a star"s core hydrogen is finally depleted, nuclear fusion ceases in the star"s core. The star becomes out of balance, gravity shrinking its core size: the star"s outer layers, however, will expand outward, becoming a subgiant, the star"s luminosity will then increase and further expand in size, becoming a red. Diagram 17. 4 why stars expand in size: as the hydrogen in the core burns out, helium is left behind. K; otherwise degeneracy pressure will prevent the fusion: because carbon stars create interstellar dust grains, they are the most voluminous, but essential polluters in the universe. Life as a high-mass star: only high-mass stars produce the full array of elements on which life depends. Diagram 17. 10: the many more photons exert a significant amount of radiation pressure in high- mass stars.