Week 12 - Death of Stars

Special relativity

Einstein’s mathematics that explains gravity

Helium “ash”

What’s leftover from nuclear fusion of hydrogen

Red giant

Dying star that swells up

Triple-alpha process

Helium fusing into carbon

Planetary nebula

When a sunlight star dies in the outer layers

White dwarf

Ball of carbon leftover when a sunlight star dies

Black dwarf

When a white dwarf cools off, it becomes a black dwarf

Nucleosynthesis

Heavy elements forming during a supernova

Core-collapse (Type II) supernovaa

Type of supernova formed from a very massive star

Supernova light curve

Graph of how the light from a supernova fades away

Supernova remnant

Expanding debris cloud from a supernova

Chandrasekhar Limit

14 times the mass of the Sun, and a Type 1 supernova explodes

Nuclear (carbon) detonation (Type I) supernova

Type of supernova that needs 2 stars

Neutron star

Ball of neutrons left from a Type II supernova

Pulsar

Flashes of energy from a spinning neutron star

Nova

Like a Type I supernova but doesn’t explode and can repeat

Black hole

A region of space from which light can’t escape

Schwarzschild radius

Radius of the black hole region

Singularity

Mass of a black hole

Event horizon

Invisible surface of the black hole

Gravitational redshift

Light getting stretched coming from near a black hole

Spaghettification

Matter getting stretched from being near a black hole

X-rays

Emitted from regions of black holes

Accretion disk

Material that orbit around the black hole

Supermassive black hole

Found in the middle of the galaxy

What will happen when the Sun runs out of fuel?

It’s going to swell up into a red giant, and that swirling up is going to progress to the point that the outer layers sluff off into a 

What is a red giant, and how is it formed?

The red giant is formed from the outer layer with a star that has swelled up

What is a planetary nebula, and how is it formed?

It is on what’s gonna happen to stars like the Sun or somewhat bigger or smaller.

What will be the Sun’s final fate?

It will end up as a planet tearing Nebula and the white dwarf. The planetary Nebula will eventually expand as well.

How will high-mass stars end?

It is gonna live a much shorter time. and have 10 times the fuel, but the energy may be burning at 1,000, 10,000, and 100,000 times faster

What leads to a core-collapse supernova?

Iron being produced, and the energy can’t be given from iron

What leads to a nuclear-detonation supernova?

It starts with 2 stars in orbit around each other, kind of close, and the higher mass of 2 stars dies first, and becomes a white dwarf

What are the possible final fates of the supernovae?

If a neutron star is more than 3 times the mass of the Sun, it can’t hold up its own weight, and it crushes down, becoming a black hole

Why are supernovae essential to our existence?

They produce heavier elements that we’re made out of

How does a nova produce energy?

1 star dies forming a white dwarf, and the second one forms into a red giant, matter gets transferred in a orbit around the white dwarf, and the hydrogen fuses into a bright light.

What is the connection between supernovae, neutron stars, and pulsars?

The neutrons spin faster and faster, the magnetic fields become really strong, and can put out a beam of electromagnetic energy in the form of radio waves

What are the general characteristics of black holes?

They don’t suck up all matter in the universe, and light, energy, and matter cannot escape from a black hole

How do we see and identify black holes?

Seeing something that’s putting off x-rays, seeing material in orbit around it, we can determine the mass of it, and if the mass is 3 times greater than the Sun, then it’s gonna be a black hole