AST-1A Chapter Notes - Chapter 14: Electron Degeneracy Pressure, Accretion Disk, White Dwarf
Document Summary
Essentially the exposed core of a star that has died and shed its outer layers in a planetary nebula. Hot when it first forms and slowly cools. Stellar in mass and small in size. No fusion: pressure comes from degeneracy pressure from closely packed electrons (electron degeneracy pressure) Composition reflects the products of the stars final fusion stage. Mass of the sun compressed into a volume the size of the earth: extremely high density. More massive white dwarfs are smaller in size than less massive ones. Degeneracy pressure strong enough to resist the greater force of gravity. Cannot have a greater mass than 1. 4msun. Cannot travel faster than the speed of light. White dwarfs will never shine as brightly as the star is once was but the size will never change. Accretion disks: when materials fall onto another body. In a close binary system it can gain mass if its companion is a main-sequence or.
