Stages of Stars
If you look up in the sky at night you will see million and millions of stars but they must have started somewhere? Stars go through many stages throughout their lives in in our Universe.
Stage one:
Stars form from mainly gas and dust.
Stage two: Gravity pushes the dust particles causing them to spiral together, the gravitional energy is converted into heat energy causing the temperature to rise.
Stage three: Once the temperature has risen to the correct heat, hydrogen nuclei undergo nuclear fusion to create helium nuclie which then produces mass amounts of heat and light. That was the birth of a new star. It then enters a long period of time in which heat is created by nuclear fusion. It provides an outward pressure to balance the force of gravity pulling everything inwards. By this time the star and entered into a state called the Main Sequence Star which last for approximately 10 billion years.
Stage Four: The hydrogen begins to run out and the stars grows into a red giant. The star is coloured red because the surface is cooler than it's former temperature.
Stage five: A small star like the sun will begin to contract and cool forming into a dwarf planet that is coloured white named a white dwarf. Then it finally turns into a black dwarf planet and becomes non visible.
But what happens when the star creates so much energy that is becomes a larger star?
Big stars will start to slowly grow brighter and create more nuclear fusion, expandind and contracting numerous times that then form heavier elements. As the occurs they eventually burst into a supanova.
The expanded supanova blows away the outer layers of dust and gas leaving the dense core inside called the Neutron Star. If the Supanova grows enough it will soon become a black hole.
The remaining gas and dust that was blown off the supanova form into a Second Generation Star, similar to the Sun in our Solar System. The heavier elementts are only formed in the last few stages of a supanova. The presence of heavier elements in the sun and inner planets are the only reason why planet Earth is full of warmth and many other life forms.
Stage one:
Stars form from mainly gas and dust.
Stage two: Gravity pushes the dust particles causing them to spiral together, the gravitional energy is converted into heat energy causing the temperature to rise.
Stage three: Once the temperature has risen to the correct heat, hydrogen nuclei undergo nuclear fusion to create helium nuclie which then produces mass amounts of heat and light. That was the birth of a new star. It then enters a long period of time in which heat is created by nuclear fusion. It provides an outward pressure to balance the force of gravity pulling everything inwards. By this time the star and entered into a state called the Main Sequence Star which last for approximately 10 billion years.
Stage Four: The hydrogen begins to run out and the stars grows into a red giant. The star is coloured red because the surface is cooler than it's former temperature.
Stage five: A small star like the sun will begin to contract and cool forming into a dwarf planet that is coloured white named a white dwarf. Then it finally turns into a black dwarf planet and becomes non visible.
But what happens when the star creates so much energy that is becomes a larger star?
Big stars will start to slowly grow brighter and create more nuclear fusion, expandind and contracting numerous times that then form heavier elements. As the occurs they eventually burst into a supanova.
The expanded supanova blows away the outer layers of dust and gas leaving the dense core inside called the Neutron Star. If the Supanova grows enough it will soon become a black hole.
The remaining gas and dust that was blown off the supanova form into a Second Generation Star, similar to the Sun in our Solar System. The heavier elementts are only formed in the last few stages of a supanova. The presence of heavier elements in the sun and inner planets are the only reason why planet Earth is full of warmth and many other life forms.
Reference:
Mrs Hackney, Class Notes. 2012, Mercy College Mackay
Enchanted Learning, The Life Cycle of Stars, 4.9.12, http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/stars/lifecycle/
Enchanted Learning, The Life Cycle of Stars, 4.9.12, http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/stars/lifecycle/