Life Cycle of A Star

By Jackie822and

Beanerbutt777

The Life Cycle of

Small and Medium Sized Stars

The First Stage: The Nebula

http://rigel.csi.cuny.edu/rowan/lectures/Hubble%20Nebulae_files/HelixNebula-HST.jpg

A n The nebula is a cloud of gas and dust. It is not yet a star.

The Protostarhttp://www.williamsclass.com/EighthScienceWork/ImagesEighth/Protostar.jpg

Brown DwarfA brown dwarf occurs if the protostar is too small to ignite fusion.

http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2003/twa5b/twa5b_dwarf_ill.jpg

Main Sequence

http://www.astronomyexpert.co.uk/images/9392.jpg

A protostar gets enough mass to ignite fusion. All main sequence stars fuse hydrogen. Stars spend most of their life in the main sequence stage.

Red Giant

http://home.comcast.net/~van.etten/Support/Red%20Giant.jpg

A red giant is formed when a small to medium sequence star runs out of hydrogen and begins fusing helium.

Planetary Nebula

http://rigel.csi.cuny.edu/rowan/lectures/Hubble%20Nebulae_files/HelixNebula-HST.jpg

A red giant completely stops fusing helium and the outer layers of the star are driven away.

White Dwarf

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/images/content/207358main_whitedwarf_20080102_HI1.jpg

White Dwarf

The white dwarf is the leftover core of a star. It is extremely dense. It may be the size the earth but has half the weight of the sun.

Black DwarfA white dwarf cools off after trillions of years and eventually stops emitting light.

http://library.thinkquest.org/3103/nonshocked/topics/blackdwarfs/images/blackdwarfimg.gif

The Life Cycle Of

Massive Stars

The NebulaThe Nebula is a cloud of dust and gas.

http://rigel.csi.cuny.edu/rowan/lectures/Hubble%20Nebulae_files/HelixNebula-HST.jpg

Protostarhttp://rigel.csi.cuny.edu/rowan/lectures/Hubble%20Nebulae_files/HelixNebula-HST.jpg

Massive Main Sequence

https://segue.atlas.uiuc.edu/uploads/ryemm2/blue%20main%20sequence.jpg

Massive main sequence stars burn more quickly than small to medium mass main sequence stars because they fuse more hydrogen.

Red Super GiantRed SUPERGIANT

http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/gallery/prominence.gif

Red Super giants occur when massive main sequence stars run out of hydrogen and start fusing helium, carbon, oxygen, etc.

SUPERNOVA!

http://d21c.com/sookietex/space_supernova.jpg

When fusion stops, the star collapses and creates a huge explosion.

Neutron Star

http://media.arstechnica.com/journals/science.media/neutron_star.jpg

The super dense core left over after a supernova is called a neutron star.

Black HoleBLACK HOLE

http://startswithabang.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/ashtekar_blackhole.jpg

Stars with masses 25-50 times the mass of the sun form a black hole after the supernova. Other stars turn into Neutron Stars. Nobody knows what happens to things after they go into a black hole.

Fin.The End.