RANDY L. PHELPS
This is the Stellar Life and Death Module
For this assignment, please look through the
"lecture" notes for Stellar Evolution: Life and Death. These notes contain the
material, in condensed form, that I will expect you to become familiar with. I am
sure you will have questions about the material, especially since it is presented in the
form of lecture notes.
To help you fill in the blanks, I have added a few web links below, and
within the lecture notes that you can follow, in order to gain further insight into the
material. Among the additional websites you should visit are:
The V1974 Cygni
1992 Nova: from Scientific American
Upon completion of this web assignment, you should be comfortable with
the following material:
- The process by which a star converts H into He
- What happens as a star "evolves"
- What happens when a star "dies"
- What are the peculiar properties of white dwarfs, neutron stars and black
holes
Upon completion of this web assignment, you should be able to answer
these, and similar questions:
- What fundamental parameter primarily dictates the fate of a star?
- What defines a main sequence star?
- What process is responsible for the production of energy in higher mass
stars?
- After a star like the Sun finishes converting Hydrogen into Helium, what
happens?
- How long will stars of various masses "live"?
- What is a red giant?
- How can mass loss change the fate of a star?
- What are planetary nebulae?
- What defines the critical stage in a star's post-main sequence evolution?
- What are white dwarfs? What are their properties? How do they
remain stable against gravitational collapse?
- What are novae?
- What are supernovae?
- What is the source of elements heavier than H and He, up to Fe?
What is the source of all elements heavier than Fe?
- What are neutron stars? What are their properties? How do
they remain stable against gravitational collapse?
- What are pulsars, and how do they relate to neutron stars?
- What are the main ideas within Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity?
- What are the main ideas within Einstein's General Theory of Relativity?
- What are black holes? How does General Relativity help to
understand them? How can they be detected?
These questions, and similar ones, will form the basis of the exam
material for this section of the course. If you have problems with the material, or
are unable to answer some of the questions, I will help you, before the date specified in
the syllabus, provided you show me the results of your inquiry into the
material, that is, the answers you have obtained to the above questions!
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