A star’s life cycle is determined by its mass. The larger its mass, the shorter its life cycle . A star’s mass is determined by the amount of matter that is available in its nebula, the giant cloud of gas and dust from which it was born.
What is the biggest difference between the life cycle of a small mass star and a massive star?
Both, a low mass Star and a High mass Star will Start off with fusing hydrogen into Helium, though a high mass Star will burn it faster because of increased pressure and temperature in the core . A second difference is the ability to create heavier elements.
What is the life cycle of a star the size of our Sun or smaller?
A star the size of our Sun will spend about 10 billion years in this phase, but a star 10 times the size of our own will stick around for only 20 million years. After the main sequence phase, the star will become a red giant. A red giant is a dying star in one of the last stages of stellar evolution.
What happens to medium sized stars?
MEDIUM STARS
This ring is called a planetary nebula. When the last of the helium atoms in the core are fused into carbon atoms, the medium size star begins to die . Gravity causes the last of the star’s matter to collapse inward and compact. This is the white dwarf stage.
What causes different stars to evolve differently?
Gravity & Internal heat : balance that determines evolutionary stage of a star’s life.
What is the life cycle of a large star?
Massive stars transform into supernovae, neutron stars and black holes while average stars like the sun, end life as a white dwarf surrounded by a disappearing planetary nebula. All stars, irrespective of their size, follow the same 7 stage cycle, they start as a gas cloud and end as a star remnant.
How does the mass and size of a white dwarf compare with the mass and size of the sun?
A low or medium mass star (with mass less than about 8 times the mass of our Sun) will become a white dwarf. A typical white dwarf is about as massive as the Sun, yet only slightly bigger than the Earth . This makes white dwarfs one of the densest forms of matter, surpassed only by neutron stars and black holes.
What are the different life stages of a star?
- A nebula. A star forms from massive clouds of dust and gas in space, also known as a nebula. ...
- Protostar. As the mass falls together it gets hot. ...
- Main sequence star. ...
- Red giant star. ...
- White dwarf. ...
- Supernova. ...
- Neutron star or black hole.
How much bigger is a massive star compared to an average star?
A massive star is a star that is larger than eight solar masses during its regular main sequence lifetime. Massive stars are born, just like average stars, out of clouds of dust called nebulae.
Do all stars have the same life cycle?
All stars evolve the same way up to the red giant phase . The amount of mass a star has determines which of the following life cycle paths it will take from there. The life cycle of a low mass star (left oval) and a high mass star (right oval).
How will you relate the life cycle of a star to your life?
Stars have a life cycle, just like people: they are born, grow, change over time, and eventually grow old and die . Most stars change in size, color, and class at least once in their lifetime.
Why do stars with smaller masses burn longer than stars with larger masses?
A smaller star has less fuel, but its rate of fusion is not as fast. Therefore, smaller stars live longer than larger stars because their rate of fuel consumption is not as rapid .
How do stars end their life cycle?
The events at the end of a star’s life depend on its mass. Really massive stars use up their hydrogen fuel quickly, but are hot enough to fuse heavier elements such as helium and carbon. Once there is no fuel left, the star collapses and the outer layers explode as a ‘supernova’.
What determine the size of the star?
So for a given star of a particular size, a natural balance is reached between the inward pull of gravity, set by the star’s mass, and the outward push of radiation, set by the process of nuclear fusion in the star’s core. In brief, a star’s size is predominantly set by its own mass .
What happens at the end of the life cycle of a large star?
Supernovae. Stars of higher mass sometimes skip the slow demise and end in a violent explosion called a supernova . This occurs when the core becomes so dense the star implodes, casting gas, dust and debris back into the universe.
What is the main factor that determines the evolution of a star?
The primary factor determining how a star evolves is its mass as it reaches the main sequence . The following is a brief outline tracing the evolution of a low-mass and a high-mass star. Stars are born out of the gravitational collapse of cool, dense molecular clouds.
How star are formed and evolved from one stage to another?
All stars are formed from collapsing clouds of gas and dust, often called nebulae or molecular clouds . Over the course of millions of years, these protostars settle down into a state of equilibrium, becoming what is known as a main-sequence star. Nuclear fusion powers a star for most of its existence.
How does the evolution of a massive star differ from that of the Sun?
Massive stars evolve in much the same way that the Sun does (but always more quickly)—up to the formation of a carbon-oxygen core. One difference is that for stars with more than about twice the mass of the Sun, helium begins fusion more gradually, rather than with a sudden flash .
What is the life cycle of a medium sized star?
Medium sized stars live billions of years . As a star begins to run low on hydrogen, since the initial quantity has been fused into the denser helium gas, the core will contract due to gravity. The collapsing core increases temperature to the point that the star can begin to fuse helium into carbon.
Why do you think massive star has shorter life span than average star?
Massive stars live shorter lives than the common small stars because even though they have a larger amount of hydrogen for nuclear reactions, their rate of consuming their fuel is very much greater . Was this answer helpful?
What stage of its life cycle is our star in?
The Sun, like most stars in the Universe, is on the main sequence stage of its life, during which nuclear fusion reactions in its core fuse hydrogen into helium.
What’s the main difference between a white dwarf star and a main sequence star?
In a normal Main Sequence star, the pressure of gravity is withstood by the forces of nuclear fusion. In a white dwarf, however, all nuclear fuel has been exhausted and gravity compresses the core inwards, forcing the matter into a degenerate state .
What is the difference between white dwarf and neutron star?
White dwarfs are formed from the collapse of low mass stars, less than about 10 time the mass of the Sun. This star loses most of its mass in a wind, leaving behind a core that is less than 1.44 solar mass. On the other hand, neutron stars are formed in the catastrophic collapse of the core of a massive star.
How does the size of a white dwarf depend on its mass?
How does the size of a white dwarf depend on its mass? White dwarfs are typical mass of a star’s mass but with small radius . A typical white dwarf would have the mass of the Sun and radius of Earth. The density is so high that a teaspoon of its material can weigh as much as a truck on Earth.
What is the Sun’s life cycle step by step?
The Sun is currently a main sequence star and will remain so for another 4-5 billion years. It will then expand and cool to become a red giant, after which it will shrink and heat up again to become a white dwarf. The white dwarf star will run out of nuclear fuel and slowly cool down over many billions of years.
What happens in the first stage of a star much bigger than the Sun’s death?
Stars More Massive Than the Sun
The star collapses by its own gravity and the iron core heats up . The core becomes so tightly packed that protons and electrons merge to form neutrons.
