nitrogen, and oxygen nuclei act as catalysts for the production of helium from
hydrogen. Shown in the figure bellow:
nucleus. By the time the core of a star gets hot enough for the triple process to
take place, all of the hydrogen has been fused into helium. Helium is now the most
abundant fuel and can supply the triple process for a relatively long time. If the
temperature in a star reaches between 500 million to 1 billion K, the carbon that
result from the triple process becomes a fuel. If the core temperature rises even
higher in a star, other nuclei can be consumed in fusion reaction. Fusion can
produce energy only from fuels less massive than iron. The fusion of iron and
more massive elements can never produce energy for the star in which those
b. Opacity
The structure of a star will also be affected by how easily photons can pass
through the material in any given layer. If a layer absorbs photons, then it will be
heated with an increase in pressure that will expand the layer. Alternatively, if a layer
is transparent and allows photons to readily escape, then that layer will be cooler with
a lower gas pressure that will allow gravity to compress its material. Astronomers
actually use the reciprocal of transparency, or opacity, to measure the ability of
photons to pass through material. A low opacity means high transparency; a high
opacity means a low transparency. The opacity of the material in a given layer depends
on the chemical composition (some elements absorb light more easily than other
elements), the temperature, and the density.
c. Equation of state
The internal structure of normal stars is fairly simple because only a few physical
principles are involved in the determination of the structure of a gaseous object. This
simplicity is summed up in a simple principle, the RusselVogt theorem. For stars of
like composition, the structure and observable properties depend on a single parameter
such as the star's mass. Alternatively, the RussellVogt theorem may be expressed as
follows: The equilibrium structure of an ordinary star is determined uniquely by its
mass and chemical composition. This principle or theorem is not an accident of nature,
but is the direct result of how the laws of physics determine the equilibrium structure
of a normal star.
This physical law relates gas pressure P in a given layer to the number density of
particles N (particles/cm 3) and the temperature T at that radius from the center of the
star. For a perfect gas, the equation of state says where k is the Boltzman constant.
Pressure is simply proportional to the number density of particles and to the
temperature (expressed in Kelvin). The number of particles in a given volume,
however, depends upon the chemical composition of the material, because particles
are not identical. An atom of helium has four times the mass of an atom of hydrogen;
thus, a given amount of helium has only onefourth the number of particles as an equal
amount of hydrogen. The same total mass of these two elements in an identical
volume therefore will have different pressures. If the pressure from helium is
responsible for the balance against gravity in a stable star, then four times as much
mass in the form of helium would be necessary at the same temperature to produce the
same pressure as hydrogen.
Temperature is an additional factor. At low enough temperatures, atoms are
electrically neutral. At higher temperatures, atoms ionize, the electron becoming free
particles in addition to the nuclei. Each ionized hydrogen atom would be represented
by two particles, the nucleus (proton) and a free electron, with a corresponding change
in pressure compared to neutral hydrogen. Given the chemical composition of a gas
and the state of ionization of the atoms, then the mean atomic mass of the particles
may be calculated and the equation of state expressed as follows: the mass density
becomes
P= kT/.
d. Models of Stars
In addition to ordinary stars like our Sun, the universe also contains other types of
stars whose structures may differ because they exist in a multiplestar system or they
produce variable energy in their cores. Some of these different types of stars include
binary stars and variable stars.
- Binary stars
There are many single or isolated stars like the Sun, but about half of all stars in
the sky are found in multiple systems. Of the 25 nearest star systems within 4 pc
(13 ly) of the Sun, 8 actually are multiple systems (7 binaries and 1 triple system).
Binary systems are of special interest, because analysis of their orbital
characteristics by use of Kepler's Third Law yields a direct measure of stellar
masses. Such stars that are well separated are known as visual binaries, but others
may be detected only via the Doppler Effect and hence are known
as spectroscopic binaries. If the orientation of the orbit is such that the stars
alternatively pass in front of each other, then an eclipsing binary is observed;
analysis of the light curves yields information directly about stellar sizes.
Other phenomena are found in close binary systems. Very close stars may have
their spherical structures altered by the gravitational effects of their companions. If
the stars are close enough, this process may result in the near sides of the stars
touching as contact binaries. As one or the other of the stars in a pair evolves,
there may result mass exchange between the two stars that alters the course of
evolution for both stars. Given the large range of stellar properties, an extremely
-
Figure 19.5 Evolutionary tracks for pre-main sequence stars of different masses.
The positions of the stars in the H-R diagram would fall on an isochrones, a line
in an H-R diagram that shows the temperatures and luminosities of a collection of
stars that have the same age but different masses.
3. Main Sequence Stars
The main sequence phase in the evolution of a star is the period of time when it is
consuming hydrogen in its core. It is a period of stability during which both the
structure and appearance of the star change only very gradually.
The fact that the main sequence stars are represented by a band across the H-R
diagram that is smoothly populated from the rare O and B stars to the very common M
stars strongly suggests that these stars are physically the same type of object, though
some factor must be responsible for their range in observable properties. The Sun is a
main sequence star and thus, by implication, all other main sequence stars must share
its fundamental nature. Through theoretical modeling of the Sun and other main
sequence stars, scientists have determined that the factor that differentiates them from
the three other types of stars is the fact that their energy is generated internally by the
conversion of hydrogen to helium (giants and supergiant produce their energy by
gravitational contraction and by converting helium to even heavier elements; white
dwarfs are like dying embers in a fireplace, radiating away their store of heat energy).
Like most other stars, they also are in a state of equilibrium in which gravity is
balanced by gas pressure at each radius, and the luminosity flowing outwards at each
level is balanced by the energy generated interior to that level.
a. The variety of main sequence stars
Although all main sequence stars generate energy by the fusion of hydrogen into
helium in their cores, they differ from one another in many important respects,
such as mass, size, temperature, luminosity, and internal structure.
Mass
Main sequence stars range in mass from 0.08 M to perhaps130 M.
Size
The most massive main sequence stars are also the largest. Some of them are
much as 15 times as large as the sun. If we were located 1 AU from such a star,
it would have an angular size of about 7.5. The least massive and smallest
main sequence stars are only about one-tenth as large as the sun.
Figure 19.6 The relative sizes of main sequence stars with spectral types.
Temperature and Luminosity
The main sequence stars of lowest mass have surface temperature of about
50,000 K and are spectral type O3. The main sequence stars of lowest mass
have temperature of only 2400 K and are spectral type M8. Brown dwarfs are
cooler and dimmer still and fall in spectral classes L and T.
Main sequence stars show an extremely wide range of luminosities. The most
luminous (and most massive) are more than a million times as bright as the
sun. If the sun were replaced by one of these stars, the temperature of the earth
would raise to about 10,000 K, so the earth and the other terrestrial planets
would quickly be vaporized. The smallest, least massive main sequence stars
are about 1000 times dimmer than the sun. If one of these stars replaced the
sun, the earths temperature would fall about 50 K, approximately the
temperature of Neptune.
Table 19.1 The spectral types, temperatures, radii, and luminosities for main
sequence stars.
Internal structure
The internal structure of a main sequence star depends on its mass. The more
massive main sequence stars have the highest central temperature as great as
40 million K. This is hot enough that massive main sequence stars can use the
carbon cycle to fuse hydrogen into helium. Because the rate at which fusion
reaction occur is very sensitive to temperature, the massive main sequence
stars consume their hydrogen at rates much faster than the sun, which has a
core temperature of only about 15 million K. the rapid consumption of
hydrogen in massive main sequence stars is the source of their tremendous
luminosities. Main sequence stars of low mass, in contrast, have core
temperatures below 10 million K, so nuclear fusion goes on very slowly in
their cores and produces only a relatively feeble output of energy.
The core of massive main sequence star produces far too much energy for
radiation alone to carry energy outward. Instead, the core of massive star has
vigorous convection. The convective region ends, however, far beneath and
without the mottled appearance shown by the sun. The central convective
region is largest for the most massive main sequence stars and grows smaller
with decreasing mass until it disappears for stars a little more massive than the
sun. Low-mass main sequence stars also have convective regions, but in this
case it is their surface layers that are convective, like the sun photosphere. The
sun has a shallow convective region, but for stars with lower masses, the depth
of the surface convective zone increases with decreasing mass until, for the
main sequence stars of lowest mass, it extends all the way to the core of the
star.
Figure 19.7 Internal structure for main sequence stars of several masses.
Where:
t = Sun MS lifetime = 1010
M = mass of star
M = solar mass
The lifetimes of main sequence stars therefore range from a million years for a
40 solar mass O-type star, to 560 billion years for a 0.2 solar mass M-type star.
Given that the Universe is only 13.7 billion years old, these long main
sequence lifetimes for M-type stars mean that every M star that has ever been
created is still on the main sequence! The Sun, a G-type star with a main
sequence lifetime of ~ 10 billion years, is currently 5 billion years old about
half way through its main sequence lifetime.
The main sequence lifetimes of stars with masses between 1 and 30 M are
graph in figure below
Figure 19.8 The main sequence lifetime for stars of different masses.